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Trace Sports HD launches in Asia via AsiaSat 5
MUMBAI: Asia Satellite Telecommunications (AsiaSat) has signed a new lease agreement with media group Trace for additional C-band capacity on AsiaSat 5, to launch Trace Sports HD channel in the Asia-Pacific region.
From 1 August, Trace Sports HD debuts on Hong Kong Broadband Network‘s bbtv, with more carriage agreements in Asia to be announced in the coming months.
Trace Sports HD offers stories about sports celebrities.
With access to the world‘s sporting elite, it is a channel of entertainment, personal stories and lifestyle content dedicated to sports fans.
The channel is broadcast in English with subtitles in Mandarin and Korean, and made available to cable, DTH, broadband and mobile platforms across Asia and Australasia.
Trace chairman and CEO Olivier Laouchez said, “At Trace Sports HD, we love champions, and therefore we are thrilled to further expand our partnership with AsiaSat, our champion satellite partner in Asia, to introduce our new HD service to the region‘s passionate community of sports fans.”
AsiaSat president and CEO William Wade added, “We are pleased that Trace has chosen AsiaSat again to expand their brand and content in Asia. Trace Sports HD‘s unique and compelling programming coupled with superb image and sound quality, will definitely give Asian viewers more choice and an enhanced viewing experience.”
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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.
