Playboy Ditches DVD in Favor of Online Distribution

Playboy has decided to stop physical sales of DVDs and instead focus on digital distribution.

In a move expected to save the company an estimated $12 million per year, Reuters reports that the Playboy announced the decision to distribute content online in a recent regulatory filing.

Playboy spokesperson Martha Lindeman said the DVD business was accounted for on the company’s earnings statements under "Other," together with Playboy radio and its Alta Loma production company. In the first half of 2008 Playboy Inc. saw that line item drop by half a million dollars compared to that period in 2007.

Digital distribution is something that’s becoming increasingly popular among musicians ; however this is one of the first high profile switches to online distribution we’ve seen in the adult movie business. It’s certainly interesting given the impact experts expected the adult industry’s position on Blu-ray and HD DVD to have on the consumer market.

The adult industry played a huge part in the format war between VHS and Betamax. While longer recording times and affordability for VHS were a sizable factor in higher consumer adoption of the format towards the end of the VCR era, the porn industry initially flooded the marketplace with scores of adult movies on VHS, leading many people to purchase VHS-compatible VCRs.

Playboy said the move to ditch DVDs will mean a reduction in staff amounting to 80 employees and cost the company $2 million in restructuring charges.

Read more on Reuters.