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Colors sets foot in Canada with ATN
NEW DELHI: Viacom18 Media has signed an exclusive distribution deal for its flagship Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors with Asian Television Network International (ATN) for the Canadian market.
ATN is Canada‘s largest South Asian Broadcaster and it will now distribute Aapka Colors (US version of Colors) in the Canadian market.
Viacom18 Group COO and Colors CEO Rajesh Kamat said, “After having successfully launched in the US, the next logical step for us was to have Aapka Colors made available to viewers in Canada. Continuing our endeavour to extend the reach of our brands to key Diaspora markets, we are happy to announce that we will soon commence operations in Canada, bringing quality entertainment to the many South Asian households in Canada.”
Viacom18 has already expanded the channel in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East & North Africa and Singapore.
Viacom18 head – International Business and Sun18 Media COO Gaurav Gandhi added, “ATN, as the leader in the South Asian entertainment market in Canada, was our obvious choice as a partner for the distribution of Aapka Colors in the market. We look forward to a fruitful and mutually beneficial partnership with ATN in the days to come.”
ATN president and CEO Shan Chandrasekar said, “We are delighted to partner with this multinational media conglomerate Viacom to bring this outstanding channel Aapka Colors, with its compelling content across Canada.”
The channel claims of being dedicated to promoting ‘cohesive viewing‘ with a mix of fiction, reality and blockbuster movies.
In North America, the channel is distributed in cooperation with MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International.
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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.
