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Epix in 5-year online rights deal with Netflix
MUMBAI: Pay-TV channel Epix is in a five-year online rights agreement with Netflix. Netflix will get exclusive online rights to films from Epix‘s three equity partners, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Netflix is expected to cough out $1 billion to Epix as licensing fees for the full five-year term that will bring the channel closer to its goal of breaking even by 2011.
The arrangement would also allow subscribers of Netflix to watch films such as Iron Man 2, Dinner for Schmucks and this week‘s release The Expendables through the company‘s internet streaming service.
With this, Netflix, best known for its DVD-by-mail business, would become a formidable competitor to Time Warner‘s dominant pay channel Home Box Office that has films from Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures in its basket.
Netflix has been investing a huge sum to acquire content for its streaming video service. It already has a deal with Liberty Media‘s pay channel Starz that provides films from Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures. It recently also acquired exclusive pay-TV window rights for films produced by Relativity Media.
Now the question before the two companies is when exactly Epix would allow Netflix to start streaming its films. It is being said that this would happen some time after Epix starts airing new films a few months after they launch them on DVD.
The agreement would allow Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM to sell and rent their movies via digital stores such as Apple Inc.‘s iTunes.
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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.
