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Casbaa to pursue mobile, regulatory agenda in 2007
MUMBAI: The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) has announced its strategic direction for 2007, as well as the results of 2006 Annual general meeting elections to the Casbaa council of governors and board of directors. |
According to Casbaa chairman Marcel Fenez, in 2007 the association is to focus on the increasing impact of Mobile technology, also noting a clear signal from the council of governors to step up initiatives in India and China. Casbaa will continue to engage the regulatory authorities in multiple markets and promote industry development in Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan, among others. In addition, Casbaa will strive to demonstrate the effectiveness of pay TV as an advertising medium and thus challenge other traditional media for advertising revenues, asserts an official release. Fenez said, “On an almost daily basis Casbaa is engaging with decision-makers across the region regarding regulatory and intellectual property rights issues while maintaining a steady output of studies on markets and the benefits of effective regulation and the cost of pay-TV piracy.” Casbaa also announced that the following were newly elected to the Casbaa council of governors, the association’s leading advisory body, Anytime president and COO Craig Zimbulis; Mabuhay Satellite president and CEO Garie Pimentel; MIH Asia president Ian Barnard; SkyVision Corporation (Sky Cable) head of programmes acquisition Juno Henares Chuidian; AGB Nielsen Media Research CEO Malcolm Spry and Standard Chartered Bank head of creative media and tech industries client relations Susan Ho. |
The results of Elections to the Casbaa board of directors were as follows: HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink; AsiaSat CEO Peter Jackson; United Broadcasting Corporation EVP-chairman Sompan Charumilinda; BBC World regional director distribution and business development Nic van Zwanenberg and Celestial Pictures CEO William Pfeiffer |
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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.
