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Asiasat in pact with Fox International Channels
MUMBAI: Asiasat has entered into a contract with Fox International Channels (Fic) to provide one-stop broadcast service including compression, uplink, play-out service, monitoring, maintenance and troubleshooting for the broadcaster‘s HD and SD channels at Asiasat‘s earth station in Tai Po, Hong Kong.
A new broadcast centre staffed by Asiasat was established to host Fic‘s equipment and to provide 24×7 broadcast operations for the FIC channel bouquet available across Asia and the Middle East.
The channels in the FIC network, which feature Chinese and Hollywood movies, US TV series, documentaries and Asian entertainment, are delivered in both HD and SD formats to 13 markets in these two regions, reaching over 550 million cumulative viewers. The operations were previously handled by FIC out of its Hunghom location.
By outsourcing the broadcast operations to Asiasat, Fic can focus more on its core business of expanding its channel portfolio across genres, and launching channels and services faster in current and emerging markets in Asia.
Fox International Channels VP, broadcast technical operations Victor Chan said, “Outsourcing our broadcast operations to a capable service provider like Asiasat improves Fox International Channels‘ operational efficiency, and enables us to focus on our core competency by taking first-to-market advantage to launch and market channels. Asiasat is our long-term partner in Asia. This agreement further expands our existing collaboration in achieving total reliability and quality control in the broadcast of our services across the regions”.
Asiasat president, CEO William Wade said, “We are very pleased to provide this additional valuable service to Fox International Channels, Asiasat‘s long standing customer. We are proud to play an expanding role in Fic‘s distribution service in Asia by offering space and ground infrastructure solutions that address their broadcast needs, now and in the future”.
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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.
