{{short description|American magazine covering adult entertainment}} {{Use American English|date=April 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}} {{Infobox magazine | title = Adult Video News | logo = Adult Video News logo.svg | image_file = AVN, March 2012.jpg | image_caption = Cover of the March 2012 issue | category = Trade magazine | total_circulation = 40,000<ref name=Wallace /> | publisher = Tony Rios<ref name="madler" /> | circulation_year = 2006 | frequency = Monthly | language = English | based = Chatsworth, California, U.S. | founded = {{start date and age|1983}} | country = United States | issn = 0883-7090 }}
'''''Adult Video News''''' (also called '''''AVN''''' or '''''AVN Magazine''''') is an American trade magazine that covers the adult video industry. ''The New York Times'' notes that ''AVN'' is to pornographic films what ''Billboard'' is to records.{{r|Egan-2000-10-23}} ''AVN'' sponsors an annual convention, called the Adult Entertainment Expo or AEE, in Las Vegas, Nevada along with the AVN Awards, an award show for the adult industry modeled after the Academy Awards.{{r|Egan-2000-10-23}}<ref>{{cite web| author = Steve Kroft | title = Porn In The U.S.A. | url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/porn-in-the-usa-21-11-2003/ | publisher = 60 Minutes | date = September 5, 2004 | access-date = January 2, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080103014218/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/21/60minutes/main585049.shtml| archive-date= January 3, 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>
''AVN'' rates adult films and tracks news developments in the industry. An ''AVN'' issue can feature over 500 movie reviews.<ref>{{cite web | author = Frank Rich | title = Finally, Porn Does Prime Time | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/arts/27RICH.html?ei=5007&en=00eab4b1b37e54de&ex=1374638400&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=all&position= | work = The New York Times | date = July 27, 2003 | access-date = August 9, 2014 | archive-date = May 23, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130523024603/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/arts/27RICH.html?ei=5007&en=00eab4b1b37e54de&ex=1374638400&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=all&position= | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | author = DPA, Los Angeles | title = Porn loses seedy image, becomes mainstream in US | url = http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2003/07/17/2003059757 | newspaper = Taipei Times | date = July 17, 2003 | access-date = January 2, 2008 | archive-date = June 28, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180628015723/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2003/07/17/2003059757 | url-status = live }}</ref> The magazine is about 80% ads and is targeted at adult-video retailers. Author David Foster Wallace has described ''AVN'' articles to be more like infomercials than articles, but he also described the ''AVN'' magazine as "sort of the ''Variety'' of the US porn industry."<ref name=Wallace>{{cite web|author=David Foster Wallace|title=First Chapter – 'Consider the Lobster'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/books/chapters/0312-1st-wallace.html|work=The New York Times|date=March 12, 2006|access-date=January 2, 2008|author-link=David Foster Wallace|archive-date=April 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425155808/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/books/chapters/0312-1st-wallace.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
==History== Paul Fishbein, Irv Slifkin, and Barry Rosenblatt founded ''AVN'' in 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Slifkin left in 1984; having lost interest in reviewing adult movies due to the industry's transition from film to videos. Rosenblatt and Fishbein had a falling out in 1987. Eventually, Fishbein moved the magazine to the San Fernando Valley where it operates to this day.{{when|date=September 2023}}<ref>{{cite news | author = Anthony Layser | title = Porn Supremacy | url = http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/articles/16173 | newspaper = Philadelphia Weekly | date = January 9, 2008 | access-date = January 18, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080112175057/http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/articles/16173 | archive-date = January 12, 2008 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Fishbein sold the company in 2010.<ref name="gadget">{{cite news|url=http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/silicon-and-silicone-split-as-c-e-s-and-porn-show-part-ways/|title=Silicon and Silicone Split, as C.E.S. and Adult Entertainment Expo Part Ways|last=Nick Wingfield|date=January 9, 2012|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 10, 2012|archive-date=January 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130004836/https://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/silicon-and-silicone-split-as-c-e-s-and-porn-show-part-ways/|url-status=live}}</ref> Theo Sapoutzis became chairman and CEO of AVN.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Street |first1=Sharan |title=AVN Acquires Social Networking Site Adult Whos Who AVN |url=https://avn.com/business/articles/technology/AVN-Acquires-Social-Networking-Site-Adult-Whos-Who-412084.html |access-date=7 May 2024 |work=AVN}}</ref> Tony Rios became owner and CEO of AVN in August 2015.<ref name="madler">{{cite news |last1=Madler |first1=Mark |title=Porn's Insider |url=https://sfvbj.com/news/weekly-news/porns-insider/ |access-date=7 May 2024 |work=San Fernando Valley Business Journal |date=17 April 2016}}</ref>
''AVN'' is widely quoted for various figures about the adult industry and its revenues.<ref name=ackman /><ref name=keveney>{{cite news | author = Bill Keveney | title = Hollywood gets in bed with porn | url = https://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-10-16-porn_x.htm | newspaper = USA Today | date = October 16, 2003 | access-date = January 2, 2008 | archive-date = June 26, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120626085923/http://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-10-16-porn_x.htm | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name=silverstein /> ''AVN'' estimated that the sales and rentals of adult videos topped four billion dollars in 2000<ref name=ackman /> and 2002.<ref name=keveney /> ''Forbes'' has called this figure "baseless and wildly inflated". When ''Forbes'' asked ''AVN'' how it arrived at this figure, Mike Ramone the managing editor at the time responded, "I don't know the exact methodology ... It's a pie chart." When asked to separate the figures for sales versus rentals, a standard practice among those who cover the video industry, the editor did not think those figures were available. Adams Media Research noted that no one tracked the adult video business with rigor or precision and that the most generous estimate of sales and rentals combined was $1.8 billion.<ref name=ackman>{{cite magazine| author = Dan Ackman | title = How Big Is Porn? | url = https://www.forbes.com/2001/05/25/0524porn.html | magazine = Forbes | date = May 25, 2001 | access-date = January 2, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071213075014/http://www.forbes.com/2001/05/25/0524porn.html%20| archive-date= December 13, 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> ''AVN'' estimated that adult industry revenue in 2005 was $12.6 billion with $2.5 billion of that coming from the Internet. However, ABC News reported that this figure could not be independently verified.<ref name=silverstein>{{cite web | author = Jonathan Silverstein | title = Is Porn a Growing or Shrinking Business? | url = https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1522119 | work = ABC News | date = January 19, 2006 | access-date = January 2, 2008 | archive-date = February 2, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080202155037/http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1522119 | url-status = live }}</ref> According to Michael Goodman of the Yankee Group, it is difficult to estimate for an industry where few companies are public and new providers continually appear.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-fernandos-open-secret/|title=San Fernando's Open Secret|last=Sue Chen|date=November 25, 2002|publisher=CBS News|access-date=December 11, 2014|archive-date=December 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229190501/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-fernandos-open-secret/|url-status=live}}</ref> By 2018, Dan Miller, AVN's managing editor said, "The safe estimate is to say it's worth billions, but I don't know exactly how many billion, and no one does."<ref>{{cite news |title=Porn could have a bigger economic influence on the US than Netflix |url=https://www.yahoo.com/tech/porn-could-bigger-economic-influence-121524565.html |access-date=7 May 2024 |work=Yahoo Tech |date=21 June 2018}}</ref>
===Notable alumni=== *Eli Cross (as Mark Logan): former managing editor<ref>{{cite magazine|title=AVN Names New Managing Editor |url=http://business.avn.com/articles/11738.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709163841/http://business.avn.com/articles/11738.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 9, 2012 |magazine=Adult Video News |date=January 26, 2000 |access-date=April 16, 2008 }}</ref> *Anthony Lovett: publisher and editor-in-chief (2005–2010).<ref>{{cite news | first = Jessica | last = Gelt | title = Anthony Lovett dies at 52; humorist wrote 'L.A. Bizarro' guidebook | date = January 28, 2014 | url = https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-anthony-lovett-20140129,0,7307930.story | work = Los Angeles Times | access-date = January 29, 2014 | archive-date = January 29, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140129053121/http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-anthony-lovett-20140129,0,7307930.story | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>[http://business.avn.com/articles/video/Tony-Lovett-Steps-Down-as-AVN-Publisher-Editor-to-Pursue-Creative-Ventures-418258.html "Tony Lovett Steps Down as AVN Publisher and Editor-in-Chief to Pursue Creative Ventures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316032410/http://business.avn.com/articles/video/Tony-Lovett-Steps-Down-as-AVN-Publisher-Editor-to-Pursue-Creative-Ventures-418258.html |date=March 16, 2016 }}, AVN, November 19, 2010.</ref>
== Adult Entertainment Expo == {{main|AVN Adult Entertainment Expo}}
''AVN'' sponsors an annual convention, the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE), held each January in Las Vegas.<ref>{{cite web|title=From actors to accounting firms, annual AVN Expo in Las Vegas offers a diverse landscape|url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/2024/jan/26/from-actors-to-accounting-firms-annual-avn-expo-in/ |publisher=Las Vegas Sun |accessdate=26 January 2024}}</ref>
== Award Shows ==
===AVN Awards ===
{{main|AVN Awards}}
''AVN'' also an award show for the adult industry modeled after the Oscars.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/film/the-oscars-of-porn/2006/01/09/1136655116166.html|title=The Oscars of porn|access-date=July 25, 2007|date=January 9, 2006|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|archive-date=October 15, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015151252/http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/the-oscars-of-porn/2006/01/09/1136655116166.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailynews.com/ci_6039690?source=most_emailed|title=Porn: The Valley's secret industry|access-date=July 25, 2007|author=Brent Hopkins|date=June 3, 2007|newspaper=Los Angeles Daily News|quote=...earned seven Adult Video News awards, referred to as the Oscars of porn.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606225512/http://www.dailynews.com/ci_6039690?source=most_emailed|archive-date=June 6, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=3400|title=Porn's Big Night|access-date=July 25, 2007|author=David Schmader|date=March 9, 2000|magazine=The Stranger|quote=...the most prestigious event in the world of adult film: the Adult Video News Awards, hereby known as the AVNs, popularly known as the porno Oscars.|archive-date=June 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624010335/https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=3400|url-status=live}}</ref> The awards feature over 100 categories and has an attendance of over 3500 people.<ref>{{cite news|author=Stuart McGurk |title=And the winner is ... |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguide/features/story/0,,1721656,00.html |newspaper=The Guardian |date=March 4, 2006 |access-date=January 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080110225513/http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/features/story/0%2C%2C1721656%2C00.html |archive-date=January 10, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> David Foster Wallace skeptically noted that ''AVN'', in 1997, reviewed over 4,000 new releases in every category in comparison to the 375 films that the Academy Awards were required to see for the Oscars.<ref name=Wallace /> This number increased to 8,000 for the 2008 Awards and Paul Fishbein comments that it is "a very long, horrible process".<ref>{{cite web | author = Adam Tanner | title = Porn industry seeks recognition with annual awards | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTON50445020080115?sp=true | work = Reuters | date = January 14, 2008 | access-date = January 15, 2008 | archive-date = April 6, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090406130622/http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTON50445020080115?sp=true | url-status = live }}</ref> ''The New York Times'' noted that the "precise criteria for winning an AVN are not, well, explicit".<ref name=richtel>{{cite news| author = Matt Richtel | title = A Night to See the Stars Actually Wearing Clothes | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/national/10porn.html | work = The New York Times | date = January 10, 2006 | access-date = January 5, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111012210105/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/national/10porn.html| archive-date=October 12, 2011| url-status= live}}</ref> Awards often go to consistent advertisers in AVN.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090313234709/http://www.mywire.com/a/LosAngelesMagazine/teenager-porn-star-will-18yearold/1938923?page=4 The teenager & the porn star: will 18-year-old Sasha Grey become the adult film industry's next Jenna Jameson?] Los Angeles Magazine</ref>
Sports columnist Bill Simmons commented that the Awards were "the most secretly captivating telecasts on TV" alongside the National Spelling Bee and Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.<ref>{{cite web | author = Bill Simmons | title = Great sports any way you spell it | url = https://www.espn.com/espn/print?id=1389130&type=story | publisher = ESPN | date = May 31, 2002 | access-date = January 2, 2008 | archive-date = June 3, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080603233901/http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1389130&type=story | url-status = live }}</ref> Violet Blue, the sex writer, describes the Awards as "big backslapping event where the same companies and same names win year after year... To think of the 'porn Oscars' as a true representation of porn's very best is like having sex with a Jenna Jameson love doll and telling your friends you had sex with the porn star".<ref>{{cite news|author=Violet Blue |title=The Rise of Indie Porn? |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/The-Rise-of-Indie-Porn-2656028.php |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=January 18, 2007 |access-date=January 4, 2008 |author-link=Violet Blue (author) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106085936/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fg%2Fa%2F2007%2F01%2F18%2Fvioletblue.DTL |archive-date=January 6, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> Even Tyla Winn, an award winner, had trouble remembering one of her sex scenes that was nominated.<ref name=richtel />
=== GayVN Awards === {{main|GayVN Awards}}
''AVN'' also sponsors the GayVN Awards which are presented annually to honor work done in the gay pornography industry. Awards for gay adult video were a part of the AVN awards from 1988 to 1998. In 1999, ''AVN'' decided to separately host the GayVN Awards.
==See also== {{Portal|Journalism|Erotica and pornography}} * ''AVN'' Adult Entertainment Expo * ''AVN'' Awards * XBIZ
== References ==
{{reflist | 30em | refs = <ref name = Egan-2000-10-23> {{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/technology/23PORN.html?ei=5070&en=cf2eac8f093695d5&ex=1199422800&pagewanted=all | author = Timothy Egan | date = October 23, 2000 | others = Corrected October 25, 2000 | title = EROTICA INC.—A special report.; technology sent Wall Street into market for pornography | website = The New York Times | department = U.S. | access-date = November 12, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171112112040/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/us/erotica-special-report-technology-sent-wall-street-into-market-for-pornography.html | url-status = live | archive-date = November 12, 2017 }}</ref> }}
==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.avn.com}} * [http://business.avn.com ''AVN''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721051558/http://business.avn.com/ |date=July 21, 2016 }} – Industry News
{{AVN}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avn (Magazine)}} Category:1983 establishments in Pennsylvania Category:Business magazines published in the United States Category:Magazines about the media Category:Magazines established in 1983 Category:Magazines published in Los Angeles Category:Magazines published in Philadelphia Category:Monthly magazines published in the United States Category:Mass media in Los Angeles County, California Category:Pornographic magazines published in the United States Category:Professional and trade magazines published in the United States