Soft-core, hard-core porn magazines going way of Dodo bird in digital age

A model poses with the first issue of the Bulgarian edition of Penthouse monthly magazine in Sofia September 17. This is the first international erotic magazine to be issued in the Balkan state after the collapse of communism in 1989. Dozens of local pornographic magazines have hit the newsstands since then.EK/ME - RTRHD9D

NEW YORK – Penthouse magazine -- known for years as the X-rated cousin to R-rated Playboy -- announced on Friday it will be ceasing production of the print edition it has published for five decades. So with Playboy no longer featuring nude models, and Penthouse kaput, is this the beginning of the end for the entire category of magazines?

“Naughty magazines, even if they have ‘good’ articles, make no sense in 2016 when nude photos and ultimately hardcore porn is a click away, for free,” Paper Magazine’s Editor-at-Large Peter Davis told FOX411. “No one will log on to the Penthouse site when PornHub is one stop XXX shopping for every kind of sex video on the planet. Sadly print magazines are dying fast. The web is king. Diesel now advertises on PornHub, a sign of the times.”

Veteran magazine editor Dan Bova, now Editorial Director of Entrepreneur Partner Studios, told FOX411 the change is not surprising, as print publications’ circulation have been tanking for years.

“Industry wide, overall print magazine sales are in decline. You see evidence of it everywhere you look. I hardly ever see someone reading an actual newspaper or magazine on the train in the morning anymore,” Bova said. “Not that I ever saw someone reading an issue of Penthouse during their morning commute, but you get the idea.”

Penthouse used to boast 5 million copies sold per month, and now sells only 100,000, while Playboy also saw monthly sales decline from 6 million to 1 million.

But even with the steep drop-off, Bova does not agree that Penthouse or Playboy are going the way of the Dodo bird.

“I don't think they'll vanish. These brands will surely live on and thrive in digital,” he said. “I'm not an expert, but I'd bet that if you looked at the top 10 search terms for the past decade, the word ‘boobs’ would probably be one of them.”

Former PR rep for the adult industry Kevin Blatt agrees.

“Penthouse can surely survive in the digital age. It just needs to never lose sight of what made them so popular in the first place, great exclusive content,” Blatt said. “As long as the brand concentrates on shooting beautiful girls and publishing stories their demographic wants to read, it can adapt to an online format.”

Blatt and Bova are not the only ones unfazed by the magazine’s shift to a digital strategy. Penthouse Pet of the Year 2011 Nikki Benz cautioned that "every successful business adjusts to the new way. We live in a digital world and I'm happy to see Penthouse Magazine go digital only. It makes sense for the consumer and the company."

In an email to FOX411, Ezra Shashoua, Chief Financial Officer of Penthouse, said there will be Penthouse magazines behind the counters of magazine stands nationwide for the near future. “There is no exact date at this time,” he said, while looking ahead to the magazine’s digital-only days. “We expect to keep the same type of adult content as previously. The digital publication will have all of the same great content our print publication offers but will expand with video, interactive products and current news that’s relevant to our readers and fans.”