Gaining steam?
If by gaining steam, you mean more people coming out of the tickling closet, then that is probably true. However, tickling is still a [sigh] really minor variation for most people. Pity.
There aren't enough people with cash to keep very many tickling companies in business to produce high-quality videos.
I believe that tc mainly went out of business because they did not sell enough videos. Brian had said that one release sold 12 copies in its first month. I think he referred to it as a minor 'hit'.
This may sound snobby, but I think that it took a number of contributors from a pool of 6,000 forum members to come up with the cash for ONE custom video from angel and sissy.
If people aren't willing to devote much money to their 'thing' (everything on the web is free, right?), then why should we expect the non-ticklers/lees to be very interested? Why should we expect anyone to produce good quality videos? I have asked Insex on a number of occasions to incorporate more tickling into their 'scenes' but they hardly ever do.
Tickling is not much more of a niche 'fetish' than it was 5 years ago, except the closet tickle fanatics are coming out. I think tickling is great, but most people think its about as weird as a fur fetish.
Hey, at least we have each other.