For years on this blog I've been crying foul over the media's bogus claim that pornography is a $10 billion a year business. Well, finally that made-up figure has fallen by the wayside. Now, we're told, porn is actually a $13 billion a year business. The new number has recently appeared most prominently in a buzzy CNBC special. In fairness, I didn't actually watch the show (too much pixilation hurts my eyes) so maybe at some point it gives a source for that figure. But I couldn't find one in the web version, or in any other report that also cites it. (Revealingly, the CNBC slideshow titled Pornographic Profits offers lots of semi-nude photos but few actual numbers and zero sources for those numbers).
So why the jump? More than likely, someone just thought, Porn used to be worth $10 billion and we kept saying that it was a growing industry, so surely now it's worth $13 billion. Which would be at least common sense (if not, you know, statistics) were it not for the fact that a centerpiece of the CNBC story is that "porn profits are under assault" and "DVD sales are down 50% from last year."
But wait! That report first aired almost a whole week ago and since then porn profits have apparently skyrocketed again. In response to advertiser criticisms that the porn show was too porny, a CNBC spokesperson defended it as "a fantastic documentary which will give CNBC viewers insight into a $15 billion industry" (emphasis mine).
That's an extra $2 billion dirty movies just earned in a matter of days! Tell me again why we can't afford universal health care?
[h/t Steven]
