Applications
Hulu not to pursue sale proceedings
MUMBAI: Hulu will stop its pursuit of finding a buyer. The owners of the popular online video website have decided not to sell the property that has been under attack from several competitors.
The new decision was taken after months of negotiations between its owners like Walt Disney Co, News Corp , Comcast Corp‘s NBC Universal and Providence Equity and potential buyers.
Hulu ditched an initial public offering last December that might have raised up to $300 million.
All the owners of the site said in a statement on Thursday that they had collectively decided against a sale of the video service. “Our focus now rests solely on ensuring that our efforts as owners contribute in a meaningful way to the exciting future that lies ahead for Hulu,” they said.
This is the second instance that Hulu‘s owners had envisioned a full or partial exit strategy that could not bear fruit.
Bids for the website ranged from as low as $500 million to as much as $2 billion, it is understood. Among the prospective buyers were Google Inc, Amazon.com Inc , DirecTV and Dish Network Corp. In fact, Google had offered more than $4 billon for the site, but wanted longer-term guarantees to its video content. The owners did not agree to this.
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.
