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BigFlix to offer service in US, UK, Canada
MUMBAI: Movie-on-demand service BigFlix is going to launch its service in the UK, US and Canada this quarter.
BigFlix is looking to take advantage of the sizeable NRI diaspora there. “These are our primary markets as there is a sizeable NRI diaspora there. Later we will go to markets like Singapore, the Middle East, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia etc. The good news is that there are no connectivity issues in these three markets,” says Reliance Entertainment Digital CEO Manish Agarwal.
BigFlix will add content in Bengali and other languages. While half the content is Hindi, the focus is also on beefing up Tamil and Telugu content. Reliance has some Malayalam and Bhojpuri content as well.
“We have 2000 titles and plan to double it in the next three to four months,” says Agarwal.
The monthly fee is $4.99 and a subscriber can watch unlimited movies.
The business model agreement with producers takes different forms like revenue sharing and assured monthly revenue. It would depend on the size of the film, the timeline of the rights and the quantity of films in a deal with the producer.
How much many subscribers BigFlix is targeting from these overseas markets? “It is difficult to give a figure at this stage. We do not know what the cost of customer acquisition or churn rate will be. Piracy, though, is not an issue for us. We are talking to producers and our message is that this is a legitimate form of content distribution.”
BigFlix is learning from Netflix‘s model which relied on premium content. “They realised early on before anybody else that premium content offered on a subscription basis can be monetised unlike user generated content on a platform like Youtube which is difficult to monetise. Netflix transmigrated users from offline to online and changed the paradigm of the business. We have also focussed on premium content,” says Agarwal.
BigFix, for instance, stopped its ad supported model last year in India. The Anil Ambani-owned company also closed down its physical stores in the country as it realised that scale wouldn‘t be possible through this route.
“We work with companies like LG, Panasonic as well as with laptop companies like Lenovo and Dell. Our app is preloaded and one can watch films for Rs 249 a month. We have a partnership with Airtel for their movies service. Wherever net inflection is happening, we want to be there,” avers Agarwal.
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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.
