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Stay on cable TV digitisation in Chennai no longer applicable
MUMBAI: The process of complete switchover to digital delivery of television channels in Chennai is now likely to begin with the Madras High Court stay on government‘s notification on digitisation no longer applicable.
The two-member bench of Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice Aruna Jagadeesan, while postponing the hearing on a petition against digitisation by four weeks on Thursday, had declined to extend the stay on the government‘s mandate to digitise cable TV.
"Theoretically, Chennai will have blackout of analogue signals on cable networks. But with the Jayalalithaa state government not in support of complete switchover to digital at this stage, it will be difficult to implement disgitisation. Though broadcasters have switched off analogue signals of several channels, the only way Chennai can get completely digitised now is if Sun TV, the most popular channel in the state, decides to blackout its flagship Tamil general entertainment channel," says an industry executive on condition of anonymity.
On the suggestion by the bench, the Chennai Metro Cable Operators‘ Association (CMCOA) has filed a revised petition challenging the government‘s notification on digitisation. It had earlier only sought extension of the digitisation deadline. The Tamil Nadu Cable TV Owners Association (TANCUS) too has filed a plea against the digitisation notification.
The government had set 1 November for switchover to digital delivery of television channels in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. Cable TV systems in Mumbai and Delhi have almost entirely switched over to digital but in Kolkata a large section of cable TV households are still receiving analogue signals.
The Madras High Court had on 31 October stayed digitisation in Chennai till 5 November. It thereafter extended the deadline till 9 November and later till 19 November. The judges hearing the case are now new and on Thursday did not grant extension to the stay on digitisation.
The government claimed on 1 November that Chennai has over 1 million TV households and 63 per cent of them had installed set-top boxes (STBs) needed for digital reception of television channels.
The largest multi-system operator (MSO), Tamil Nadu government-owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation, does not have the STBs to install in homes of customers of cable operators. It has said it requires one million STBs but has so far placed an order for 0.2 million STBs from Pune-based Sterlite Technologies.
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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.
