Applications
Zee Cafe & idubba launch new app ‘icouch’
MUMBAI: Zee cafe in partnership with idubba has launched a mobile app for the viewers who use android phones.
Christened as ‘icouch‘, the launch of this app is in line with the channels objective of expanding its viewer base through the new season of American television drama series ‘Grey‘s Anatomy‘ which will be telecast on 1 May. The show will be aired on every Monday to Friday at 10.00 pm.
The channel is providing a platform for the viewers to chat with each other real time via an interactive chat room.
Touted as first of its kind, this app will enable viewers to chat with friends about the show, play contests, win prizes, take up quizzes and see their conversation Live on TV while the show is on air. The attempt is to unite all the fans of Grey‘s Anatomy on a common platform and keep them glued to the show.
Zee Cafe brings season seven, eight and nine of the medical series.
Zee niche channels business head Anurag Bedi said, “Given the popularity of Grey‘s Anatomy in India we want to give the viewers a chance to participate while watching the show. The rate at which various communication vehicles are seeing a decline, this initiative was taken to give the viewers a personalised bite into their TV viewing experience. This differentiated app has been developed in a creative and nimble way to get viewers talking about the show real time. With majority of urban population now making a shift to smart phones, creating such an app was an obvious choice for engagement for this kind of a show.”
idubba co-founder Rabi Gupta further added, “iCouch is definitely not another news or gossip outlet where we report things or events, in-fact here the news and gossip makers and breakers are the ardent fans of the TV show. It is a chat forum that has no bar, you are the one building and developing the discussion of your favourite show. It enables your thoughts be known not only to your friends and mutual lovers of the show but also to the cast and the crew of the show. iCouch is a platform that makes the current TV viewing scenario more charged up with entertainment, live gossips, snip-bits and chats.”
Applications
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.
