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Casbaa to hold TV Upfront on 13 December
MUMBAI: Casbaa, in association with Campaign Asia Pacific, is to stage its inaugural TV Upfront – The Singapore Screenings on 13 December, 2011 at the Goodwood Park Hotel, Singapore.
A half-day networking and preview experience for media buyers, agency heads and clients and led by the Asia TV Advertising Coalition (ATAC), the invitation-only presentations will promote pay-TV as an effective promotional tool for companies looking to maximize marketing budgets.
Casbaa chairman Marcel Fenez said, “The objective is to promote the multichannel TV industry as a single dynamic entity. With the region‘s multinational broadcasters presenting their upcoming programming for 1H 2012, there has never been a better opportunity to show media buyers the advantages pay-TV advertising.”
Participating networks will include Discovery Networks Asia, Fox International Channels, NBCUniversal, Bloomberg, A+E Networks, MTV Asia, Sony Pictures Television Entertainment and Turner International through special screenings of their most compelling upcoming programming for the next season.
Special guest speaker Asia Planning Council, BBDO/Proximity chairman Andy Wilson will present a strategic overview of the industry to attendees and Brian Fisher, Caltex Global Brand Manager, Chevron International will offer a case study on the creativity and effectiveness of using pay-TV.
With multichannel TV now in more than 50% of TV homes across Asia , the power of pay-TV is amplified through new research commissioned by CASBAA from Universal McCann.
Based on a notional regional ad budget of just $1.5 million, new data demonstrates that investing progressively more on Pay-TV and less on free-to-air (FTA) yields improved ROI for clients. The findings show that an advertising message will be viewed by more people when the share of investment on pay-TV increases versus FTA.
“With multichannel TV‘s fast rising penetration in Asia, it can no longer be considered a “niche” platform but a valuable marketing tool garnering the greatest reach and efficiency for advertisers,” added Fenez.
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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.
