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Disney deal a huge step forward for Netflix: Sarandos
MUMBAI: At the UBS media Conference in New York, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the company‘s content deal with Disney is a major step forward.
“It is going to be a huge step forward for our programming.” Sarandos also stressed the importance of getting more exclusive programme rights and developing additional original content. He also called Disney a near perfect media company.
Sarandos also said that the children’s content on Netflix shouldn’t cut in to conventional TV viewing. “Every month we stream hours of content so you’d think we’d be cannibalising linear television like crazy”. But Disney Channel is doing well.
Nickelodeon ratings fall has nothing to do with Netflix. “Before Netflix they used to have ratings slumps”. The company is working on its user interface to make it more kid-friendly.
He described the relationship with Carl Icahn who bought a stake in the company as being good so far. "This relationship is pretty new, but it has been very positive,"
Harvey Weinstein interviewed Sarandos. Weinstein asked him why Netflix let the exclusivity of a content deal with premium TV service Epix go. Sarandos explained that it wasn’t valuable relative to the premium. Epix content from Viacom, MGM and Lionsgate was already available on Epix and comes to Netflix only three months later.
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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.
