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Starz Entertainment walks out of deal with Netflix
MUMBAI: Premium cable channel Starz Entertainment has ended its content licensing deal with Netflix.
Starz walked out of the deal as it was insistent on tiered pricing and customers to be charged more for access to its content.
Starz’ decision to come out of the talks show just how fragile is the relationship between old and new media providers. The company sees Netflix as a threat to its business because consumers can opt for an $8-a-month unlimited streaming plan rather than pay for cable from where it makes most of its money.
“When the agreement expires on 28 February next year, Starz will cease to distribute its content on the Netflix streaming platform,” the company wrote in a statement. “This decision is a result of our strategy to protect the premium nature of our brand by preserving the appropriate pricing and packaging of our exclusive and highly valuable content. With our current studio rights and growing original programming presence, the network is in an excellent position to evaluate new opportunities and expand its overall business.”
Reportedly Netflix offered Starz more than $300 million a year to keep the content available, but the latter said that it was not enough and insisted that the former’s users needed tiered pricing. Going by that, Starz wanted all Netflix users to pay a premium over and above the $7.99 package to access Starz’ content, but Netflix didn’t agree to it.
Starz had initially signed a 5-year, $30-million-a-year contract in 2008 when Netflix had a few subscribers. Streaming Starz movies and TV shows on Netflix was a way to get the brand out there and potentially interest users in subscribing to Starz.
Now that Netflix has more than 25 million customers and many consumers are opting out of Starz’ platform in favour of online video from Netflix, Hulu and others, the company does not want to encourage even more people to leave cable programming for good.
Starz currently controls the pay-cable rights to movies from Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures.
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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.
