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IBC to honour Japanese pubcaster NHK
MUMBAI: IBC, the annual event for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and news content worldwide has announced that the International Honour for Excellence, the highest honour it bestows, will this year be presented to NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories (STRL).
Japanese public service broadcaster NHK has been foremost in developing new techniques and technology for broadcasting since its formation in 1930. IBC takes place in September in Amsterdam.
The IBC International Honour for Excellence is presented each year to an outstanding individual or organisation who has fostered or contributed to the relationship between technology and creativity in the broadcast, movie or media industries.
In 2011 the award went to Sir David Attenborough; previous recipients have included Director James Cameron, Aardman Animation, Manolo Romero, Managing Director, Olympic Broadcasting Services and the BBC Natural History Unit.
Having recently celebrated its 80th anniversary, NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories has been at the forefront of research in broadcasting technology, working on both practical solutions to current issues and visionary future technologies which transform the way professionals create content and audiences enjoy it.
NHK STRL pioneered high definition television as we know it today, including the development of plasma displays. It has recently been awarded an IEEE Milestone Award for the world‘s first direct to home satellite broadcast service in 1984.
Among its many current strands of research is Super Hi-Vision, its implementation of high resolution broadcasting which offers a screen resolution 16 times greater than today‘s HD, together with 22.2 channel immersive surround sound. NHK STRL engineers are working on the complete chain, from high resolution high speed CMOS cameras through recording and transmission equipment to screens and projection displays.
It is also addressing the second screen, helping a consortium of broadcasters launch an experimental service, Hybridcast, which synchronises content on a tablet with the programme on television.
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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.
