What The Media Can Learn From Porn

I may need to add this to my To-Read pile: The Erotic Engine: How Pornography has Powered Mass Communication from Gutenberg to Google.

This review on CNBC mentions four of the lessons the mainstream media can learn from the porn industry, including this intriguing detail about media innovator Moses Znaimer, who decided to add porn to his start-up TV channel in Toronto:

For 166 hours a week, his station’s Nielsen ratings were too low to measure. But for two hours each Friday night he captured more than two thirds of the city’s viewing audience – when he aired softcore movies he called “Baby Blues.”

Despite the ratings, stigma-wary sponsors had no interest in advertising during Baby Blue movies. But, viewers who came for the porn, stayed for other CityTV programming. Ratings during the rest of the week began to climb. Although Znaimer earned little directly from pornography, he still built a media empire worth tens of millions of dollars on the back of the Baby Blues.

Give it a think, Current TV. I'm just saying.