Date of Award

5-18-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Human Development and Family Science

First Advisor

Dr Richard Crane

Abstract

Knowing our media-saturated culture, it’s not surprising that in 2018 Hollywood, Netflix, and the NFL snagged some of the top revenues of America’s entertainment industry (estimates of $11.1, $11.7, and $14 billion, respectively) (“Estimated US entertainment-industry revenue in 2018”). However, a little-reported dark horse lurks as another major player in the entertainment industry: pornography. Due to the taboo nature of the industry as well as private ownership of firms, concrete data is hard to solidify (Pinsker, 2016). Low-ball estimates of the porn industry’s revenue fall in the 6 billion range, right behind the NBA at $7.4 billion. A mere mid-estimate of the industry’s revenue weighs in at $15 billion, surpassing Netflix ($11.7 billion), Viacom ($13.3 billion), and the NFL ($14 billion) (“Estimated US entertainment-industry revenue in 2018”). Clearly, the pornography industry is a legitimate economic contender in the United States (Benes, 2018).

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