AEBN, short for Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network, is an
Internet pornography
Internet pornography is any pornography that is accessible over the internet, primarily via websites, FTP servers peer-to-peer file sharing, or Usenet newsgroups. The availability of widespread public access to the World Wide Web in late 1990s ...
company that specializes in delivering material through
streaming video
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
in a
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
format. Subsidiaries include PornoTube.
History
AEBN was formed in 1999.
At the time,
video-streaming technology was still in its infancy.
[ AEBN developed and launched an adult ]Video-on-Demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
service that now serves as a widely recognized model of content delivery for the adult industry
The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of sex-related ...
.[ AEBN's pay-per-minute model is a standard in ]online pornography
Internet pornography is any pornography that is accessible over the internet, primarily via websites, FTP servers peer-to-peer file sharing, or Usenet newsgroups. The availability of widespread public access to the World Wide Web in late 1990s ...
. In 2004, AEBN began offering its theater templates in languages other than English.
Headquartered in Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, AEBN offers more than 100,000 titles and includes material from at least 1,500 different studios with 10 million subscribers worldwide, as of 2011.
Studio and other acquisitions
In January 2007, AEBN announced a merger
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
with NakedSword.com, one of the largest gay Internet pornography companies on the Web. The merger gave AEBN a windfall of gay content from studios such as COLT and Falcon, as well as a strong brand name in the gay market. NakedSword retained its separate headquarters in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, giving AEBN offices on both the east and west coasts.
In 2009, AEBN merged with another gay adult company, Raging Stallion Studios
Raging Stallion Studios based in San Francisco, is a major adult film studio and one of the world's largest producers of gay pornography. It was begun by Chris Ward and J. D. Slater; Michael Brandon later became a co-owner.
In 2005, Raging Stal ...
, and its sister label, Pistol Media. The merger also included Pistol Media's Gunzblazing affiliate program. Raging Stallion Studios is also based in San Francisco and is one of the world's largest producers of gay adult films.
On December 19, 2010, AEBN purchased Falcon Studios
Falcon Entertainment (also known as Falcon Studios), a United States company based in San Francisco, California, is one of the world's largest producers of gay pornography.
Founded in 1971 by Chuck Holmes, Archived by web.archive.org. the comp ...
for an undisclosed sum.[ Falcon CEO James Hansen would remain with the company as the chief financial officer of Falcon Studios.][
]
Other ventures
AEBN launched Xobile in April 2005. Xobile made adult material available on mobile devices. Xobile was known for its "PornMyPortable" campaign, which offered adult material specifically made to work with mobile entertainment devices like the iPod and Sony's PSP. On March 5, 2010, AEBN announced the relaunch of its Xobile mobile porn platform that included a "massive redesign."
AEBN announced plans to host the first annual VOD Awards in 2005. The awards' winners are chosen based on the viewing habits of the sites' users and on per-minute sales in theaters during the preceding calendar year.
Early in 2006, AEBN started xPeeps.com, an x-rated
An X rating is a rating used in various countries to classify films that have content deemed suitable only for adults. It is used when the violent or sexual content of a film is considered to be potentially disturbing to general audiences.
Aust ...
dating site that garnered 300,000 users in its first eight months. In 2007, AEBN created a dating site similar to xPeeps but specifically for the fetish community called SocialKink.com.
In 2008 AEBN debuted a product called RealTouch
The RealTouch is a teledildonic male sexual stimulation device consisting of a sleeve fitted with "belts, jets, heating elements and other gadgetry" that fits over the penis and synchronizes sensations to a specially produced online video. It was ...
, a sleeve fitted with "belts, jets, heating elements and other gadgetry" that fits over the penis and synchronizes sensations to a specially produced online video. Representatives for the company demonstrated the device at the 2009 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas and it was released in November 2009.
Awards
VOD Awards
Since 2006 AEBN has its own award program to acknowledge videos, performers, and studios based on their popularity as selected by their customer base.[
The awards cover a range of genres along with an award for ''Studio of the Year''. Categories include: ''Performer of the Year'', ''Best Newcomer'', ''Best Overall Movie'', ''Amateur'', ''BDSM'', ''Feature'', ''International'', ''Lesbian'', ''Series'', and ''Transsexual''.
]
References
External links
AEBN Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:AEBN
American erotica and pornography websites
Companies based in Charlotte, North Carolina
American companies established in 1999
1999 establishments in North Carolina