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News broadcasters decry carriage fee in new tariff order
NEW DELHI: The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has expressed its shock and dismay at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India‘s tariff order for digital addressable systems as it has legitimised carriage fee that has deeply hurt their profitability.
NBA has that the Notification has ‘legitimized‘ the very practice the NBA had hoped would be ended – the payment of steep “carriage fees” by broadcasters.
It noted that the primary purpose of digitisation was to increase the number of channels that can be broadcast. The objective was to give consumers greater choice and to eliminate the phenomenon of “carriage fees”, which were being charged due to capacity constraints.
However, the NBA was distressed and disappointed that Trai‘s new Notification had actually legalised the practice of “carriage fees” and given distributors the freedom to unilaterally set the amount of “carriage fees” broadcasters must pay.
“This unfairly penalises broadcasters and threatens the very survival of the broadcasting industry,” NBA said, urging the government and Trai to look into this malaise and correct it urgently.
News broadcasters will be meeting the I&B ministry and Trai to express their grievances.
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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.
