Who Rents Gay Porn?

[Rod Hagen]

Had a conversation with a friend yesterday. I think most of the men who rent gay porn live in MidAmerica--I see the closeted guy in Council Bluffs Iowa just going nuts with it.

 

My friend thinks that most men who rent gay porn are on the left and right coasts, and if not openly gay, than at least (somewhat) actively gay.

 

My view is of course much more of the stereotype.

 

But ignoring our cliche assumptions about midwesterners being sexless and closeted (of course we don't really think that), and sexual actives being largely metropolitan I was wondering if anybody knows where, geographically, the majority of gay porn is rented? And by whom? Have there been industry-conducted studies? THANKS!

[Rod Hagen]

Let me put this better: Where and who is the largest market for gay porn.

[HotdadENYC]

>Let me put this better: Where and who is the largest market

>for gay porn.

 

 

My living room

 

 

hd NYC

[MscleLovr]

I asked this question once of a video-store manager in San Francisco. It was 10 years ago, and maybe things have changed, but I was surprised at his answer then.

 

Most commonly, gay porn videos were rented on a Saturday evening by.... single straight women

[JT Brooklyn]

Definitely Guys who don't want to pay $200-250 an hour..For the REAL Thing...You can get 4 Videos for 15.95 a month, from places Like NYMEDIA..Of course Escort Rates are cheaper in the Middle of the Country..But again it still has to be Economics.. :+ :+ :+

[joel304]

I live in San Francisco. Superstar Satellite has a huge collection and a large crowd every time I frequent them. The accepting environment of the city allows the open air Blockbuster feeling.

[+ deej]

>Let me put this better: Where and who is the largest market

>for gay porn.

 

The largest market right now (and growing by leaps and bounds) is the internet. Every porn producer is struggling to figure out how to get their piece of it, meanwhile amateur sites like Sean Cody or Corbin Fisher continue to grow.

 

The porn industry has seen few BIG changes over the years. The most recent was the proliferation of the VCR. People no longer needed to have clunky, noisy 8mm projectors in the closet to see porn at home. DVD is cutting into VHS sales, and at least one company (Titan) has announced they'll no longer have new titles available on VHS, but DVD isn't a major shift in the basic model. People are still buying a product they can take home and hide in the closet.

 

Internet delivery changes the entire commercial model, and it's happening rapidly. That's the largest market right now, and it's booming.

[bigguyinpasadena]

The DVD rental places here in Pasadena stock so few gay porn titles that I just don't bother.If I lived in the Valley(Stans,Video West)or WeHo(VideoWest.Drakes,Circus of Books)then I might be more interested.

My$$$$spent on porn has been very much decreased in recent years.Getting older and the internet are the main factors.I still get off pretty fast if I have a hot DVD playing.but now it is an occasional treat,rather than a weekly event.

[+ Charlie]

Your question was about rentals, and it seems obvious that it can only be rented where it is available. I suspect there is far more available in video rental stores in the major cities on the coasts than in smaller cities in the Midwest or South. Which tells us little about who actually WATCHES it more.

[noviceny]

I know that every straight guy I know, no matter how much they are getting, buys porn. I dont know about rentals though. Is it not the same with gay guys ? Again, rentals (as opposed to buying) is a totally new thing to me

[DelawareGuy]

I joined NY Media (after reading about it here). I decided that I was tired of buying DVDs based on a hot cover only to find that I really didn't like the movie. Renting it allows me to decide if it's something I want to add to my permanent collection.

 

JT mentined NY Media being $14.95 a month for 4 movies; my plan is $21.95 a month for one DVD at a time. I didn't realize they have different plans?

[Epigonos]

Interesting question!! I live in suburban Southern California -- Orange County. Because of my career, secondary education, I was deeply closeted. During my working years I didn't even rent porn because I didn't want to be seen going in and out of an adult video store. I chose to buy it, principally from Falcon, and over the years I acquired a considerable collection. Upon retirement, nearly three years ago, I began hiring escorts. Now my porn collection collects dust. Occasionally I may look at a scene I remember as really hot but NOT VERY OFTEN. My personal experience therefore is that when I started participating myself I stopped watching others. I don't care how "hot" the video is a "hot" escort in bed is a hundred times "hotter". I wonder if this is true for others as well?

[Rod Hagen]

I've also heard that about women renting gay porn. Interesting.

 

But unfortunately, I've handled this poorly. The best way for me to get the answer I'm looking for is: "Generally, who do porn producers mostly have in mind as their gay audience when they greenlight a film; are they making it to ship out as a plain brown wrapper to horny closeted guys in Boseman, or is it for the Urban gays?"

[Okliehomo]

Well, I don't have the answer to that question, but I can tell you as a closeted gay in Oklahoma, that I have a huge porn collection, purchased mostly on line because you can neither buy nor rent porn here in backward ass OK. I stopped buying about a year or so ago, and signed up with nymmedia.com. $43.95 a month and they keep 3 DVDs here at all times. These days, I use porn between escort appts and as a tool to find new guys that I want to hire. I do have a fondness for porn stars...Trey Rexx, Matt Majors, Arpad Miklos, Alec Martinez, Jim Slade, Rafael Carreras etc. Am currently pursuing Kent Larson and Wilfried Knight but they are both so busy making vids that I can't pin them down. So for me porn has become even more useful than even before...or I have traded one obsession for another. Oh well.

Okiehomo

[HotdadENYC]

Rod, I've also noticed twice in the last few months that women (one time it was a single woman; the other time it was two women) were very actively perusing the gay films. That was interesting. What was more interesting was that on both occasions not one gay guy in the bookstore / videostore was affected or bothered by it.

 

As far as porn producers go, I don't what the answer is. I think that producers cater to a certain theme or whim or fetish, as opposed to a geographical market, but I could be wrong.

 

Rentals and sales in a particular area would have to be relative; a small town with 10 guys that rent every day might have a higher saturation rate (no pun intended) than a corresponding large urban area where there are lots of choices but few actual rentals.

 

I guess you can't go wrong with marketing to a larger urban area.

 

The whole world of porn rentals has been dramatically changed by the proliferation of Internet pay per view sites, as deej pointed out earlier. With cyber-access, all of the assumptions about geographical marketing sort of go out the window.

 

On a related note, I've often wondered about how much and what types of porn are watched in hotels that offer it, especially by out of town visiting men. Your thread reminded me of this.

 

hd NYC

[+ deej]

>But unfortunately, I've handled this poorly. The best way for

>me to get the answer I'm looking for is: "Generally, who do

>porn producers mostly have in mind as their gay audience when

>they greenlight a film; are they making it to ship out as a

>plain brown wrapper to horny closeted guys in Boseman, or is

>it for the Urban gays?"

 

It's targeted for anyone that'll buy it! ;-)

 

Seriously, I don't think any of them have any specific target demographic in mind other than their little niche. Everyone has their specialty.

 

Kevin Clarke is best known for twink videos. Chris Ward got his start directing Falcon's Handball line and continues in that veign with his own company, Raging Stallion. Titan's motto is "where men are pigs", and their videos reflect that. Michael Brandon had a vision for a specific type of video and that's how he came to helm the Monster Bang unit at Raging Stallion.

 

They all pretty much produce what *they* like, with no real target other than men with similar tastes. Just about the only director that crosses all demographics fluidly is Chi Chi LaRue, who is as comfortable directing daddies as twinks, leather to bi, and has worked for just about every video company.

 

If you have a particular inspiration for a video, find the studio who already produces something similar and pitch it. It'll help a BUNCH if you show up ready & willing to bankroll the project. }(

 

Someone mentioned str8 women renting gay porn. That's because so many of the men in str8 porn are fugly. I saw some comments from a female porn reviewer that not only are ALL the men in gay porn more attractive than in str8 porn, she was awestruck (and a little jealous) at their deep-throating skills. :o

[mmk]

I used to rent gay porn but unfortunately, theplace where I would rent it at closed down and the other place near me closed two years ago. I have nto started any of the mail order rental but I am goin gto have to since there are not any places in the cityI live in (pittsburgh) to rent it. (I think I need to move)

[Guest Fruit]

The target demo for most gay porn is men 28 -51. This demo usually has more disposal income.

 

From my own research most men in smaller communities or non accepting communities rent via the Internet.

 

Men who live in gay ghetto's rent direct from adult book stores. They have no problem walking in and renting gay DVDs.

 

However, men who live in larger cities (outside of the gay ghetto) more often than not will rent via the Internet.

 

If I were to do a startup my advertising budget would be geared to those in smaller communities and the too busy urbanites.

[PacNW]

RE: NYMMedia

 

>JT mentined NY Media being $14.95 a month for 4 movies; my

>plan is $21.95 a month for one DVD at a time. I didn't

>realize they have different plans?

 

I think mayber he's implying he can turn 4 movies around one at a time within a month's period. Although I'm hard-pressed to manage 2 ... I'm having some shipping issues with them they're promising to work on. As far as price goes, I'm at $15.99 for one at a time. JT could easily just be off by a dollar in his memory, but if you're paying $21.95, something is definitely odd. Click on available rental plans under the customer service tab on their site and see where it's gone wrong.

[Guest zipperzone]

This is only SLIGHTLY off topic.

 

I have recently been thinking that it's time to start subscribing to some of the hotter on-line sites that offer videos via the net.

 

The only thing holding me back is the fear that I might experience difficulty in cancelling my subscription (and the automatic debits to my Visa) when I no longer want the service.

 

Is this fear reasonable? Has anyone experienced this kind of trouble? And if it happens - how easy is it to correct it with the credit card company?

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Interestingly

 

>>But unfortunately, I've handled this poorly. The best way

>>for me to get the answer I'm looking for is: "Generally, who do

>>porn producers mostly have in mind as their gay audience

>>when they greenlight a film;

 

I do not believe as much (or, as certain movies appear to indicate, as little) thought as might go into greenlighting any mainstream Hollywood fare goes into many adult films, straight or gay. While some thought might go into some of the casting, the balance of the cast might be who is available and you might see someone who is putatively heterosexual be a bottom and get fucked by some gay guy, who is more personally inclined to be a power bottom, but tends to top on film due to looks, endowment, etc.

 

>It's targeted for anyone that'll buy it! ;-)

 

I think a lot of really bad porn exist for the same reason there are some really crappy, fire trap bars in many areas, boring and uninteresting gay "newspapers" and otherwise mediocre ghetto dining/retail/etc. establishments. People patronize all of the above.

 

>Seriously, I don't think any of them have any specific target

>demographic in mind other than their little niche. Everyone

>has their specialty.

 

While there are certainly a large variety of niche markets, most porn is fairly generic and, except for those looking for something specific (i.e., all black videos, fisting, barebacking, twinks, etc.), it is fairly generic (in every sense of the word) adult films which both get made, get distributed and get sold/rented.

 

What exactly is on your mind, Rod?

 

 

 

http://www.gaydar.co.uk/francodisantis

[Guest skrubber]

I live on the East Coast and do not rent but buy porn regularly.

[JT Brooklyn]

RE: This is only SLIGHTLY off topic.

 

Hey Zip..My own experience, I have been using http://www.nymmedia.com to receive DVD'S via USPS. Never a Problem with these guys. $15.95 per month. They have a HUGE Inventory..There turn around time about 3-4 days. They distribute both from East Coast and West Coast.. ALL info you need is on their site..I think a Company who "Specializes" in this case, the way to go.. :+ :+

[Karl-G]

Gay Video Rentals

 

Minneapolis has two very large, very complete rental stores for gay videos. They charge, I think, $3.50 total for three days and refund a dollar if you return it after one day. They also frequently have coupons for 2 for 1 or 3 for 2. Their selections are large and include everything from all twink titles to leather, sm, hairy, etc. They get new films rather quickly; they are very good.

 

In Fort Lauderdale, there are a several shops with rentals, but they are not terribly large or thorough. For example, none carry a really good twink selection, just some titles from BelAmi and Falcon and Studio 2000. They don't even carry Citiboyz or Miamiboys, which I assume, are local companies.

 

In Minneapolis, I think they rented mostly and did not sell a lot, other than specials on sale. In Fort Lauderdale, they tell me they sell a lot at list prices. Rentals in Fort Lauderdale, depending on plan, are about $4 per day. I wonder what charges are in other cities?