I don’t know what to make of XTV. For those who don’t know, XTV (http://xtv.com/) is the adult equivalent of cable or satellite TV. XTV consists of a little black box that goes on top of your TV and hooks into it. The box receives a high speed cable connection through which adult content, exclusively, is pumped in. It costs $29.95 a month, with hardware - remote, the black box, etc - costing extra (total of about $180).
The content is akin, to a certain degree, to that provided by your local cable/satellite company. There are over 50 channels, each devoted to an aspect of porn. In effect, there’s an anal channel, a bondage channel, etc. These would be analogous to, say, the Food Network and ESPN, as far as niche cable/satellite channels are concerned.
There’s live programming; web cam theaters where you can call in. There are even pay-per-view movies you can order for additional fees. And unlike with regular cable, you can re-watch any movie that you’ve rented in the past as many times as you like, for free. As long as you remain a subscriber, of course. Also, unlike with cable TV, there’s interactive content: sex games, if you will.
For those of you with niche pornographic ADD, this might be the solution that you are looking for. For the price that you’d pay for an online membership, you get a broader range of genres than that offered by your typical paysite. And since the average TV screen is larger than a computer monitor, the porn is more in your face. But those of you who are avid adult DVD and video collectors already knew that.
So if you like your porn larger than life, why not subscribe to Playboy and/or Spice channels? While Playboy channel doesn’t show you the hardcore, explicit stuff, Spice does. And where I live, the two channel package costs only $21 a month. But I don’t know that Playboy/Spice gives you an interactive component.
Speaking of interactivity, the one aspect of XTV that could put it over the top - in the minds of a lot of pornophiles who are considering subscribing - is the live web cam. In the past, I’ve both purchased minutes and been retro-actively billed for the pleasure of conversing with cam girls who took “requests”. Believe me, a 15-minute session can cost a lot. If the monthly subscription price includes unlimited - or at least a substantial amount of - web cam conversation minutes, many guys would sign up yesterday.
So as a porn consumer considering XTV, you should ask yourself three questions:
1. How much porn do I intend to watch?
2. What are my tastes? and
3 Am I looking for something “X”-tra?
If you’re going to subscribe to a paysite, you could do worse than plop down $30 a month for a little variety in your programming. Throw in some interactivity and guarantee that live cam girls are included - and that’s a big assumption - and you have yourself a winner. XTV service is available now, but the cam girls won’t be available for another several months, so stay tuned.
Or not.
Looking for Porn in All the Wrong Places (Revisited)
Well, the verdict came down on the case between Google and the federal government that I described before. Not good for Google, but not necessarily bad overall.
Looking for Smut in All the Wrong Places
The federal government is trying to use Google as an unwitting accomplice in its war on pornography. But the search engine giant is having none of it.
Adult Trafficking
If anyone knows a more profitable way to get paid for adult exit traffic, I'm open to suggestions.
