Penthouse is a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione and published by Los Angeles–based Penthouse World Media, LLC. It combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictures of women that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore pornographic pictures of women.
Pornography has existed since the origins of the United States, and has become more readily accessible in the 21st century. Advanced by technological development, it has gone from a hard-to-find "back alley" item, beginning in 1969 with Blue Movie by Andy Warhol, the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984) and home video, to being more available in the country and later, starting in the 1990s, readily accessible to nearly anyone with a computer or other device connected to the Internet. The U.S. has no current plans to block explicit content from children and adolescents, as many other countries have planned or proceeded to do.
Softcore pornography or softcore porn is commercial still photography, film, or art that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. Softcore pornography includes stripteases, lingerie modeling, simulated sex and emphasis on the sensual appreciation of the human form. It typically contains nude or semi-nude actors involved in love scenes and is intended to be sexually arousing and aesthetically beautiful. The distinction between softcore pornography and erotic photography or art, such as Vargas girl pin-ups, is largely a matter of debate.
Television X (TVX) is a series of adult pay-per-view television channels in the United Kingdom owned by Aylo Global Entertainment (Europe) Limited. Until 2020, it was owned by Portland TV which was a subsidiary of Richard Desmond's publishing company Northern & Shell until 2016. All of the programmes on the main Television X channel are filmed and produced in the United Kingdom.
Crave is a Canadian premium television network and streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc.
Pornographic magazines or erotic magazines, sometimes known as adult, sex, or top-shelf magazines, are magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature. Publications of this kind may contain images of attractive naked subjects, as is the case in softcore pornography, and, in the usual case of hardcore pornography, depictions of masturbation, oral, manual, vaginal, or anal sex.
More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas.
Playmen TV is a Canadian English language specialty channel. It is a premium adult entertainment television channel aimed at gay men, with programming consisting mainly of adult films and adult-related television series.
MediaFLO was a technology developed by Qualcomm for transmitting audio, video and data to portable devices such as mobile phones and personal televisions, used for mobile television. In the United States, the service powered by this technology was branded as FLO TV.
Love Nature is a Canadian specialty television channel owned by Blue Ant Media. Originally launched on March 12, 2006, the channel broadcasts documentaries and television series related to wildlife and nature.
The Erotic Network (TEN) is a premium adult pay-per-view service in the United States owned by New Frontier Media. TEN operates six full-time PPV channels that are available via cable or satellite as well as a video on demand channel.
Northern & Shell is a British publishing group, founded in December 1974 and owned since then by Richard Desmond. Formerly a publisher of pornographic magazines including Penthouse and Asian Babes, it published the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday, and the magazines OK!, New! and Star until these were sold to Trinity Mirror in February 2018. Northern & Shell also owned three entertainment television channels: Channel 5, 5* and 5USA until 2015. It owned Portland TV, which operates pornographic TV channels including Television X and Red Hot TV; the company sold Portland in April 2016.
In the United Kingdom, pornography is regulated by a variety of laws, regulations, judicial processes, and voluntary schemes. Pornographic material generally has to be assessed by regulators or courts to determine its legality. British censorship laws with regard to pornography have often been some of the most restrictive in Western Europe.
OutTV is a Canadian English language specialty channel and streaming network that was launched in September 2001. It broadcasts general entertainment and lifestyle programming aimed at the LGBT community.
Penthouse TV is a Canadian English language specialty channel that broadcasts adult entertainment material, primarily in the form of pornographic films. The channel's name is licensed from the American men's magazine Penthouse. Penthouse TV is owned by Fifth Dimension Properties Inc, a company wholly owned by Stuart Duncan, majority owner of Ten Broadcasting.
HBO is a Canadian premium television network from Crave, which is owned by Bell Media. The channel is primarily devoted to original programming and special events sourced from the HBO and Cinemax subscription services in the U.S., as well as domestic motion pictures.
Penthouse HDTV is an adult entertainment channel primarily broadcasting in high-definition format. For over 40 years, Penthouse has published the Penthouse magazine and directed and produced movies, video games, sports, and gadgets. Penthouse has created three HDTV channels available in Europe.
Home Video Channel (HVC) was a British cable television channel that began operating in 1985, broadcasting low-budget films between 8:00 p.m. and midnight. Film genres included horror, action, adventure, science fiction, and erotica. In 1992, a second channel, The Adult Channel, was launched by HVC's owner, Home Video Channel Limited (HVCL). It broadcast erotic films and softcore pornography.
Dorcel TV is a Canadian premium adult entertainment television channel consisting of primarily softcore adult content in the form of films, documentaries, reality shows, and variety shows, among others, between 6:00am to 11:00pm ET, while hardcore content, primarily from Dorcel TV, fills the remainder of the schedule. It is offered in English and French. The channel is owned by Sex-Shop Television Inc., a division of IDI.
