Applications
India helps ESPNcricinfo break new ground during T20 WC
MUMBAI: Leading cricket portal ESPNcricinfo has said it has posted its best-ever audiences for the Twenty20 format of the game during the recently concluded ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. T20 cricket Fans logged more than 800 million page views and spent total of 2.3 billion minutes on the website through all devices and platforms.
India contributed more audience to ESPNcricinfo than any other territory globally, with more than 35 per cent of all total global page views and more than 32 per cent of global total minutes coming from fans in this country. It also contributed the greatest total mobile web usage, logging more than 183 million total page views so far in the tournament and almost 324 million total minutes of time spent via mobile devices.
Additionally, throughout the tournament, ESPNcricinfo said it had an average minute audience of almost 80,000 people across computers, mobile web, and mobile apps – meaning that during any given minute of the 18-day tournament, an average of 80,000 people were engaging with ESPNcricinfo. The average minute audience is four times greater than the 2010 tournament.
Fans also watched 164,000 videos on average per day on ESPNcricinfo during the tournament not counting streaming video which is available in some regions.
The portal said the most dynamic growth in audience and engagement for ESPNcricinfo since the 2010 tournament has come on mobile devices. Globally, the brand saw 678 per cent growth in total page views (to more than 445 million) and a staggering 981 per cent growth in total minutes (to nearly 855 million minutes) via mobile devices, compared to the tournament two years ago.
Across all platforms – online, mobile web, apps and tablets – ESPNcricinfo posted its best day of the tournament on the final day of the Super 8s stage registering 266 million minutes and 101 million page views.
The tournament has also marked a milestone for ESPNcricinfo and ESPN3 in the US, helping expand access to, and exposure for, cricket in the country. US-based cricket fans constituted ESPNcricinfo‘s second-biggest audience globally for the tournament (trailing only India), with nearly 17 per cent of global page views and nearly 19 p er cent of all minutes spent during the tournament – across all devices – coming from the US. US-based fans also accessed more videos per day on average (71,171) than any other territory worldwide.
Meanwhile, UK-based cricket fans engaged more via ESPNcricinfo‘s mobile apps than fans in any country globally. During the tournament so far, more than one-fifth (21%) of the 8.1 million minutes spent daily (on average) with ESPNcricinfo‘s mobile apps came from the UK.
ESPN International vice president, digital media Arne Rees said, “We‘re thrilled fans from around the globe chose ESPNcricinfo as their go-to across all platforms to follow the World Twenty20 Championship. We‘re proud to be serving a growing audience of US cricket fans while continuing our leadership in delivering for fans across the Indian subcontinent, the UK, Australia, South Africa, the Caribbean and around the rest of the world. ESPNcricinfo prepared for one of its most comprehensive tournament packages to date around the World Twenty20 Championship and fans have clearly appreciated that content and connected to it through the devices they use every day.”
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.
