Playboy (PLA) has already cut its staff and cut its office space ... but you know things are bad when Hef starts cutting back on the amount of skin his Bunnies are baring.

According to industry reports, Playboy is planning on a mix of new sites aimed at tackling a tamer market -- and none of them involve nudity. According to Playboy insiders, the company is developing a "free, safe-for-work site" its calling TheSmokingJacket.com, as well as additional subscription content with a slightly tamer feel.

Broadening your appeal beyond a core product is no easy task. But if done successfully, it can forever change the fortunes of a company. Just look at Nintendo (NTDOY) and its efforts to make video games mainstream and not a niche product for pimply-faced teenagers.

Continue reading What Playboy Can Learn from Nintendo

What Playboy Can Learn from Nintendo originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 May 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading SEC Workers Love That Internet Porn

SEC Workers Love That Internet Porn originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Sex.com Sale Stalled by Involuntary Bankruptcy Filing

Sex.com Sale Stalled by Involuntary Bankruptcy Filing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tired of the prudes over at Apple (AAPL), who keep a tight leash on filth in iTunes? Well, it seems like the folks at Google (GOOG) are keeping an open mind. Even though its Android Market isn't playing in the adult space, Google isn't preventing adult-only content from getting on its devices, while Apple has made it a point to keep its iPhones and iPods clean from the start.

The latest entrant into the Android experience is a company called MiKandi (say it, "my candy"), which provides mobile access to the hot stuff you can enjoy on a screen of any size. MiKandi has no connection to Google other than the use of its technology.

Continue reading Android gets a red light district

Android gets a red light district originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's wabbit season!

There's only good news for Playboy (PLA) when someone expresses an interest in buying it. Shares of the ailing men's lifestyle company shot higher on Thursday when word got out that Iconix is interested in acquiring it. Iconix owns and licenses brands to manufacturers and counts Candie's and London Fog among its holdings. A deal isn't a sure thing, but Playboy now has something it hasn't in a while: hope.

Iconix has been looking to acquire more brands. And Playboy has been looking for a knight in shining armor (and with a hefty war chest in tow) since at least June, when Scott Flanders took the helm. But it looked like acquisition bait well before then, thanks to a rough financial situation.

Continue reading Iconix sets its sights on Playboy

Iconix sets its sights on Playboy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Finally, the federal government has accepted an offer from Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis. Earlier this year, the feds turned down his request for bailout money, but the filmmaker entrepreneur executive soft-core porn guru had better luck with the judiciary branch. His deal to get out of jail came through.

U.S. District Judge S. James Otero accepted a plea agreement that Francis reached with prosecutors. It will put him on probation for the next year for filing false income tax returns. He was also sentenced to time served -- 301 days, but that's all in the past. He also has to pay restitution of $250,000.

Continue reading Francis gone free: Time served, probation and restitution for soft porn mogul

Francis gone free: Time served, probation and restitution for soft porn mogul originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to USA Today, amateur pornographers armed with little more than a webcam and a computer are giving the major players in the adult entertainment industry, like New Frontier Media (NASDAQ: NOOF) and Playboy (NYSE: PLA) a run for their money.

Sales and rentals of adult DVDs have plummeted in recent years, and now sites like PornoTube.com and YouPorn.com (such clever names ... not) are allowing consumers to download user-generated content to their computers, and even cell phones ... for free in most cases.

While the big porn companies have been pretty quick to move onto the internet, replacing DVD sales, you have to wonder how much user-generated content will hurt their sales. Is Playboy delivering a product that much better than some of the amateurs on PornoTube? I wouldn't know because I'm a good boy.

Shares of Playboy and New Frontier have performed poorly over the past few years, and you have to wonder: How much does branding really matter in an industry that is now flooded with free content?

The market doesn't appear to be giving Playboy a lot of credit for the brand it's been building for the past 54 years: The stocks trades with a market cap of $365 million, which is about 1 times sales. If the brand does still have value, it could be ripe for a buyout -- but only if that's what Hef wants.

Amateurs upstaging pros in pornography originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's long been thought that investing pornography companies can provide a hedge against an economic downturn. In times of high unemployment, men have more free time, are often depressed, at home alone, and...you know the rest. So perhaps the recent numbers for adult DVD sales are a bullish signal for the economy. In 2006, sales of adult DVDs fell by more than 15%, after a decade of steady growth.

So has the porn industry fallen on hard times? Maybe not. The growth of adult sites on the Internet and even cellphones may just be spreading the wealth more broadly: it used to be that people bought DVDs, but now they have many other options.

If you're interested in making a bet on growth in the industry, the two main publicly traded players are New Frontier Media, Inc. (NASDAQ:NOOF) and, of course Playboy Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:PLA).

What does porn say about the economy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last week, for the first time ever, Chinese men had a chance for that once-a-year spectacle that so many American men have counted on for decades: the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. While pornography is still outlawed by the communist government, it's a wall that appears to be on its way down. Soft-core pornography is becoming more available, and some websites are going even further.

It seems likely that as China continues it's sprint toward modernization, pornography will one day be legal there. When that happens, the adult entertainment industry will gain access to a huge new market. I would continue to monitor China's laws and, in the event that pornography is legalized, take a long look at stocks like Playboy Enterprises (NYSE:PLA) and New Frontier Media (NASDAQ:NOOF).

Of these two companies, New Frontier has been performing far better of late. But an iconic American brand like Playboy may find new life in China, where all things American (like baseball) are the rage.

Cheesecake on the rise in China originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 04 Mar 2007 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Adult sites access only after fingerprinting - good idea? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google sued 'for the children' in PR campaign by Long Island politico originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 May 2006 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft software, concert tickets, and now porn for your iPod? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 Apr 2006 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.