HBO has removed all original erotic adult programming from its channels and streaming services.
The channel behind early prestige dramas such as “The Sopranos” and “Six Feet Under” once distinguished itself with the slogan — “It’s not TV. It’s HBO.” Once buried within its groundbreaking TV dramas were HBO’s adult programming, which ranged from serious docu-series “Real Sex,” “Pornucopia,” and “Cathouse,” the reality show “Taxicab Confessions,” and one-off educational specials such as “Katie Morgan on Sex Toys.”
“Over the past several years HBO has been winding down its late-night adult fare,” the premium cabler said in a statement. “While we’re greatly ramping up our other original program offerings, there hasn’t been a strong demand for this kind of adult programming, perhaps because it’s easily available elsewhere.”
Some have speculated that the shift was precipitated by HBO’s June purchase by new parent company AT&T, hich also recently merged with Time Warner. HBO denied any correlation, saying the pivot away from adult programming had been in the works for over a year, predating the AT&T purchase.
Throughout the 1990s, HBO’s subsidiary Cinemax pumped out a plethora of softcore pornographic films and scripted series, earning it the industry nickname “Skinemax.” Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who alleges she was paid hush money by Donald Trump to cover up an affair, appears in HBO’s 2004 docu-series “Pornucopia.”
For those HBO subscribers who are missing the premium cabler’s adult programming, Pornhub might provide a little satisfaction. The adult-video streaming site is offering to produce new episodes of such written-off “sex-positive” programs as Real Sex and Taxicab Confessions and stream the existing ones.
“It’s a shame to see HBO rid itself of its late-night adult programming, and we consider classic shows such as Taxicab Confessions and Real Sex, among others, to be vestiges of a bygone era,” Pornhub VP Corey Price said in a statement to Deadline.
The free, ad-supported site, which claims more than 90 million daily visitors, is reacting to news that HBO quietly has been ramping down its adult fare in recent years en route to getting out of the skin-show biz.
(Excerpts) Read More at: IndieWire.com and Deadline.com