Flynt: Hustler VOD Is Coming
By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 3/6/2004 4:03:00 AM
On the eve of its 30th anniversary, Hustler magazine is taking its signature adult-content brand into the pay-per-view and video-on-demand businesses with a new cable-targeted service.
LFP Inc.-owned Hustler TV On Demand will launch in April as a VOD service, branching into the PPV and subscription businesses by the summer, LFP Broadcasting executive vice president Michael Klein said.
Hustler product has aired on such networks as Playboy TV and New Frontier Media’s The Erotic Networks services, and LFP owns explicit-content rights to In Demand-distributed PPV series Who Wants to Be a Porn Star?.
But this would be the first U.S.-based, Hustler-branded service. LFP operates a Hustler Channel PPV service in Canada in partnership with Canadian-based TEN Network (no relation to New Frontier).
Hustler TV On Demand would offer mostly double-X-rated adult programming -- adapted to softer or more explicit content on request -- from a library of movies and original programming, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt said in an interview.
"Obviously, we’ll leave [the choice of versions] up to the [cable or satellite] provider," Flynt said. "They know their markets, so we’ll give them what they want."
Flynt said LFP produces nearly 40 titles per month via studio partners, including VCA Pictures. The VOD product will offer 50 hours of programming per month with a 50% refresh rate.
Klein said he’s close to completing negotiations with operators about VOD launches, but he had no deals yet. LFP also is pitching a PPV version, with three-hour blocks of programming on a 24-hour basis.
Klein called Hustler’s rate card "very competitive" with other adult-PPV networks, although he would not be specific. Operator splits for adult content range from 70%-90% per buy.
For more on Hustler TV On Demand, please see R. Thomas Umstead’s story on page six of Monday’s issue of Multichannel News.
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