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SES in multi-year capacity deal with Mediascape
MUMBAI: Global satellite operator SES has announced at CommunicAsia2012 in Singapore a new multi-year agreement with Philippines‘ MediaScape to provide additional capacity on the SES-7 satellite at the prime orbital location of 108.2 degrees East.
With this capacity expansion MediaScape will utilise transponders on both SES-7 and NSS-11, satellites that are co-located at the same orbital location.
The additional satellite capacity will initially enable MediaScape to ramp up Cignal TV’s Direct-to-Home (DTH) offering to 15 High Definition (HD) channels and 51 Standard Definition (SD) channels, up from 9 HD channels and 37 SD channels in 2011. Cignal, the largest and fastest growing satellite TV provider in the Philippines, currently serves over 250,000 subscribers across the country.
SES senior VP commercial, Asia-Pacific, Middle East Deepak Mathur said, “SES’ decision to build up the DTH neighbourhood at 108.2 degrees East with SES-7 and NSS-11 underscores our commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, and further strengthens our partnership with MediaScape.”
Cignal COO, MD Annie Naval said, “The new deal will allow us to grow new TV audiences throughout the Philippines, enabling millions of TV households to access high quality satellite TV. We are also benefitting from SES’ global expertise in carrying High Definition TV programmes as we expand Cignal HD’s lineup, which now offers a wide variety of premium programmes covering sports, lifestyle, kids, history and movies.”
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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.
