HBO ‘Winding Down’ Late-Night Erotic Adult Fare Due to Lack of ‘Strong Demand’
HBO has removed all original erotic adult programming from its channels and streaming services. The channel behind early prestige dramas such as “The Sopranos” and “Six Feet Under” once distinguished itself with the slogan — “It’s not TV. It’s HBO.” Once buried within its groundbreaking TV dramas were HBO’s adult programming, which ranged from serious docu-series “Real Sex,” “Pornucopia,” and “Cathouse,” the reality show “Taxicab Confessions,” and one-off educational specials such as “Katie Morgan on Sex Toys.”
“Over the past several years HBO has been winding down its late-night adult fare,” an HBO representative told IndieWire. “While we’re greatly ramping up our other original program offerings, there hasn’t been a strong demand for this kind of adult programming, perhaps because it’s easily available elsewhere.”
Some have speculated that the shift was precipitated by HBO’s June purchase by new parent company AT&T, hich also recently merged with Time Warner. HBO denied any correlation, saying the pivot away from adult programming had been in the works for over a year, predating the AT&T purchase.
Throughout the 1990s, HBO’s subsidiary Cinemax pumped out a plethora of softcore pornographic films and scripted series, earning it the industry nickname “Skinemax.” Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who alleges she was paid hush money by Donald Trump to cover up an affair, appears in HBO’s 2004 docu-series “Pornucopia.”
