AEBN, short for Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network, is an
Internet pornography
Internet pornography or online pornography is any pornography that is accessible over the Internet; primarily via websites, FTP connections, peer-to-peer file sharing, or Usenet newsgroups. The greater accessibility of the World Wide Web from t ...
company that specializes in delivering material through
streaming video
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...
in a
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...
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, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...
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 se ...
.[ AEBN's pay-per-minute model is a standard in online pornography. In 2004, AEBN began offering its theater templates in languages other than English.
Headquartered in Charlotte, ]North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, 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 a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...
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, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, 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 is an independent major adult film studio based in San Francisco. It is one of the world's largest producers of gay pornography. It was founded by Chris Ward and J. D. Slater; Michael Brandon later became a co-owner.
In ...
, 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 independent 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.o ...
for an undisclosed sum.[ Falcon CEO James Hansen would remain with the company as the ]chief financial officer
A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...
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
The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...
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 film rating that indicates that the film contains content that is considered to be suitable only for adults. Films with an X rating may have scenes of graphic violence or explicit sexual acts that may be disturbing or offensive ...
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, 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