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Swiss media firm selects Harmonic to power HDTV services
MUMBAI: The largest electronic media organisation in Switzerland, SRG SSR, has selected a combination of Harmonic’s multifunction video encoders, stream processing solutions, and management tools to power its new HDTV services.
The Harmonic solutions deployed for the new DVB-S system provide the video quality, bandwidth efficiencies, and flexibility to enable SRG SSR to begin its migration to HD, while continuing to provide legacy channels until the transition is complete.
SRG SSR project manager, distribution/engineering media services Andre Frank said, “Harmonic’s video compression and processing solutions deliver the flexibility and quality to successfully address the challenges of migrating services from SD to HD over the next three to five years. Additionally, the Electra® 8000 is designed to reclaim bandwidth by increasing the channel count per transponder while maintaining video quality, so we can continue to expand our HD services well into the future.”
The Electra 8000 encoders provide SGR SSR with SD and HD, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC encoding, as well as integrated statistical multiplexing.
The Electra 8000’s architecture, featuring up to four channels in a single rack unit, reduces operational costs for SGR SSR with its high density and power efficiency.
SRG SSR is using Harmonic’s ProStream 1000 stream processing platform for bulk scrambling and NMX Digital Service Manager for easy configuration, control, and monitoring of Harmonic and third-party video network elements.
Installation of the system was performed by Euromedia Service GmbH, a leading systems integrator and Harmonic reseller based in Germany.
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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.
