It is often said that you cannot have a circus without the clowns. Indeed; but when you wake up to discover that the clowns are now running the circus, then quite clearly things have gotten out of hand.It is often said that you cannot have a circus without the clowns. Indeed; but when you wake up to discover that the clowns are now running the circus, then quite clearly things have gotten out of hand. And at that circus that for some time has masqueraded as the Federal Communications Commission, this is precisely what has happened. The individuals concerned may lack the makeup and the baggy trousers and the big red noses (well, most of them, anyway) but they are clowns for all that; and the trouble is, that outside the circus ring, their activities are not very funny.

Take Janet Jackson’s breasts, or, to be specific, her right breast. As the world and his dog is now aware, this breast made an unscheduled, unclothed appearance on national television networks during the pre-match entertainment at last year’s Superbowl, for some 9/16th of a second. Well, these things happen from time to time – the UK in particular has a noble history of streaking – but in most western countries where the public’s attention is briefly diverted from a sporting event by the fleeting glimpse of a lady’s bosom, there is usually a short discussion on the shapeliness or otherwise of the bosom in question and then it’s straight back to the ball game. However, the hullabaloo generated as a resulted of said breast’s public appearance would not – could not – have been exceeded had Ms Jackson stripped stark naked and engaged in sexual congress with the entire playing squads of the Patriots and the Panthers, and then followed it up by defecating on the American flag. But what is particularly interesting about this hullabaloo is that it emanated overwhelmingly from a small, but vocal and – disturbingly – rather influential body. Variously known as “the conservative right”, “the religious right”, and “those pains in the butt,” this body kicked up a stink that registered in the upper reaches of the Richter scale and caused our FCC clowns to stir themselves into action.

What they should have done at this point, of course, would have been to issue the regulatory equivalent of a loud raspberry and a one-digit salute in the direction of these wailings and gnashings of teeth. Instead, however, we were treated to the spectacle of Michael Powell et al promising extensive (and expensive) investigations into the incident. This in itself was ludicrous enough; what really put the icing on this cake of insanity was that the FCC actually found for the wailers and gnashers, and against, not Ms Jackson and Mr Timberlake (the gentleman who aided and abetted the breast in its search for liberty), but rather the networks who had the misfortune to have broadcasted the incident, and decided that a naked breast, aired for 9/16th of a second, should cost those hapless networks (namely, CBS and its affiliates) the small sum of half a million dollars.

What this tells us is that, above and beyond being a collective ass, the FCC is determined to crack down on anything or anyone it deems to be a purveyor of smut to the general public. It seems highly unlikely that any individuals connected with CBS or its affiliates had the remotest idea that something was amiss until the Jackson brassiere was well and truly off; the FCC, in its desire to appease the clamour of conservative indignation, thought (or at least found) otherwise. Now – and this is the sixty-four thousand dollar question – what would the FCC do to a network that knowingly transmitted pictures that were rather more daring; say, of full-blown sexual intercourse?

It is, of course, a hypothetical question, since all the networks realise that Powell, Copps, Martin and Jonathan (“Half a million? Jeez, make it a billion!”) Adelstein would have all their chief executives thrown in the slammer and their assets seized in a trice, quite possibly before the act of sexual congress had been completed. And this does not just apply to the television networks, but also to other channels which permit the transmission of video images – including wireless networks.

In other parts of the world, mobile adult content is rapidly turning into a nice little earner. Initially, much of the content was made available by outfits that were little more than one-man bands, but the scale of the revenues which have resulted have prompted the larger adult publishers, including Hustler and Private, to enter the fray. At the same time many of the larger networks have found the lure of greenbacks quite irresistible, and while some still remain reluctant to publicize their involvement (Vodafone is a case in point), adult content is increasingly available on their portals.

This, at least, is the case in Europe and much of the Asia-Pacific region. In the US, the networks, wary of the Powell jackboot, have eschewed adult content. Numerous content providers I spoke to told me that any tentative approaches to those networks were met by blank refusals, not necessarily because they think that porn is bad, but because Michael Powell thinks it is. Even the aggregators are nervous.

So at the present time, US inhabitants seeking porn on their mobile phones are obliged to seek out content from overseas. However, in order to do this you need to know that such services are available; and very few people do. Hence, adult mobile revenues from the US are limited at the present time.

Nevertheless, things are looking up. While it is unlikely that the networks will be brave enough to challenge the FCC for the foreseeable future, there are signs that a number of small content providers will set up shop in the US, allowing “browse and buy” access to stills and videos via systems such as Bango numbers, which have proved incredibly successful in Europe. As in Europe, these services would then be advertised either in magazines or late-night television commercials. Accordingly, while Europe and Asia will continue to constitute the primary markets for mobile adult content in the short and medium term, the greater domestic availability of such services (albeit outside the network channels) should result in US revenues increasing more than tenfold over the next five years or so. And that’s despite the best efforts of the clowns.

Dr. Windsor Holden is a Senior Analyst for Juniper Research. His report, Mobile Adult Content (second edition), will be published in January 2005. Dr. Holden can be reached at windsorholden@juniperresearch.com.