Channel 1 Releasing review

Mr. Pink’s review of Channel 1 Releasing
Review Date - 06/22/2011

Overview:
According to various online sources, the performer known as Chi Chi LaRue is not just another drag diva, DJ, and entertainer, but also one of gay porn’s most accomplished and respected directors, producers, and performers. Not only that, but LaRue has also branched out into hetero hardcore with much success. What, then, does a flamboyantly fabulous porn mastermind like Chi Chi do when all appears to have been already accomplished? Why, start a studio, of course! Channel 1 Releasing is co-owned by LaRue and has been shooting, printing, and distributing hardcore gay  content since the late 90s. In fact, Channel 1 is one of the world’s largest producers of homosexual pornography. Through its C1R website, Channel 1 has let loose a huge portion of its back catalogue for instant “On Demand” viewing. Giving you the option of watching any title right now or “renting” it for 48 hours, Channel 1 seems to be aiming for a new model of streaming video site, one that offers more choices than most. You’ll have to buy credits (here called Watch Now Minutes) in order to watch scenes on demand, and monthly membership will cost you $24.95, so Channel 1 certainly doesn’t appear to be tailored to the less financial secure buttfuck fan, but it could still be worthwhile, especially if your lust for hardcore assfucking, rimming, blowjobs, and all manner of homosexual congress is as insatiable as your reading this review implies. But, offering five free movies each week, 30 minutes free viewing each month, a plethora of live sex shows, and extended rental periods that give you unlimited access to any rented title from the collection of thousands of hardcore scenes, Channel 1 could very well end up being contemporary gay porn’s saving grace.

Pros:
From the get-go, C1R appears to be a highly advanced, professionally developed gay porn site that clearly stands above so much of its competition. With a sleek, mature site design and a thorough navigation system helping you enjoy your time here, Channel 1’s flagship site is in fine form.

Channel 1 has such a firm standing in the gay porn world that every guy with a waxed chest and erect penis who’s worth his salt has worked for them at some point, from Brent Everett, Cameron Marshall, and Mitchell Rock, to Cole Ryder, Eddie Stone, and Tommy Blade.

The Flash streams buffer quickly and play without regular major interruptions and look, well, pretty good at resolutions of 640x480. Photo galleries, when available, usually contain images of 900px and present some detailed and interesting views of hot hardcore all-male fucking.

With a huge collection of videos already online, sourced from more than two thousand DVDs, there’s a heap of homo hardcore online at C1R and the heap of free galleries and videos, as well as previews of premium content, should give even the stingiest Channel 1 Releasing fan quite a lot to see and do here.

Cons:
When you’re paying $24.95 a month to get inside, you’d think the C1R crew could throw you more “free” content than they actually do. Put your membership fee next to the expensive DVD rental costs (often around $15), the On Demand per-minute charges, and paid access to the webcam shows and you’re looking at quite a lot of money just to get off.

Live shows are disappointingly sporadic and you’ll no doubt end up spending more in the regular VOD areas of C1R when you should be throwing tips to your favorite gorgeous and buff cam boy. It’d be great to see the live portions of C1R developed more fully in the future.

None of the video content available here can be downloaded for later use. Even when you rent a title, you’re limited to watching it while connected to and logged in to the C1R. C’mon, webmasters! Everyone knows downloaded HD movies are infinitely more satisfying than streaming-only ones!

It’d be great to see a revised model search integrated into Channel 1’s existing site design to allow members to quickly rifle through the list of performers tailored by physical attributes such as hair color, ethnicity, penis size, circumcision status, and the like.

Conclusion:
As C1R appears to be Channel 1 Releasing’s only online endeavor at this point, it’s especially disappointing to find it so expensive as to essentially prohibit most folks from using what could be an incredible site. Charging for membership and VOD content seems to be asking a bit much, but it’s really asking far too much when High Definition videos aren’t even on the slate. There is a huge collection of content online, sourced from DVDs and live webcam shows, that will keep any horny guy loaded with cash happy for months, but for everyone else, Channel 1 still seems out of reach.