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DD Direct Plus e-auction delayed
NEW DELHI: The e-auction of 20 slots on Doordarshan‘s free-to-air direct-to-home platform DD Direct Plus has been held up with flaws being found in the software of the e-auctioneer.
It is learnt that a total of 35 bidders were in the queue of the e-auction on the introductory round of the existing capacity of 59 channels of the platform. The second round will be conducted when the capacity is increased to 200.
The objections to the software were raised during a dummy round on 20 July.
According to an official communiqué, auctions have now been postponed. The mock drill trial run and actual e-auctions will now commence tomorrow and go on for three days.
A minimum bid amount of Rs 15 million has already been deposited by the bidder channels. Each channel is required to have a digital signature to participate and will be given a unique ID.
The highest bidder for each slot will get on the DD Direct Plus, FTA DTH platform giving it a direct reach of 12 million subscribers. There is no reservation for any particular genre.
Prasar Bharti expects to generate at least Rs 4 billion from these auctions which it expects will helps to turn around.
Doordarshan is one of the largest broadcasting organisations in the world in terms of the infrastructure of 66 studios and 1,415 transmitters. The Doordarshan network provides coverage to about 92 per cent population of the country, spread over about 81 per cent area.
DD Direct Plus is the only free-to-air DTH platform and has a viewership base of eight to nine million.
Ministry sources said only Indian entities would be allowed to bid in the first phase, as no final decision has been taken on the foreign broadcasters.
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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.
