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Casbaa unveils list of speakers for convention
MUMBAI: The Casbaa Convention 2012, to be held in Hong Kong between 29 October and 1 November, will field speakers to debate the multichannel TV industry in the Asia Pacific.
Themed ‘18 Reasons Why‘, Casbaa has lined up its list of speakers.
Casbaa CEO Simon Twiston Davies said,”The Convention continues to attract the most respected and influential speakers from the multichannel TV industry, solidifying its position as one of the most important forums taking place anywhere in the world”.
The roster will feature:
Ben Silverman (Founder & Chairman, Electus)
Winn Maw (CEO, Forever Group)
Anthony Bay (VP, Digital Video, Amazon)
Saul Berman (Partner & VP, Global Strategy Consulting Leader, IBM Global Business Services)
Richard Freudenstein (CEO, Foxtel)
Shuichi Mori (Representative Director, President & CEO, J:COM)
Gerhard Zeiler (President, Turner Broadcasting System International)
Jana Bennett (President, BBC Worldwide Networks & Global iPlayer)
Ye Htut (Deputy Minister, Ministry of Information, Myanmar)
Rohana Rozhan (CEO, ASTRO)
Harit Nagpal (MD & CEO, Tata Sky)
Additional confirmed speakers at CASBAA Convention 2012 include A+E Networks executive VP, international Sean Cohan, Scratch/Viacom Media Networks executive VP Ross Martin, Dolby senior VP, broadcast business group Giles Baker and ESPN Star Sports MD Peter Hutton.
From “Great Ad Brands at Work with Great Channel Brands” to “Socialising TV in Asia” and “How to Love Your Regulator” to “OTT”, executives from across the region and around the world will share their insights on a vast array of topics that directly influence the future of the pay-TV business.
The Convention 2012 will also feature workshops on “cross media” research, the magic of “transcoding” and “marketing strategies”, along with CASBAA TV Upfronts 2013, The Regulators Roundtable, the annual Golf Masters tournament, closing night Charity Ball, a delegate matching service and a dozen networking breakfasts, lunches and cocktails.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
