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Hinduja’s cable biz net up 35% in FY’10
MUMBAI: Hinduja Venture’s cable business, under the cable distribution subsidiary IndusInd Media and Communications Limited (IMCL), has reported a 35 per cent increase in net profit for the fiscal ended 31 March 2010.
The segment, which also includes financials of subsidiaries of IMCL, has posted a net profit of Rs 333.1 million for the fiscal, as compared to Rs 246.7 million in the year-ago period.
Total income for the year stood at Rs 3.29 billion, up 11 per cent.
EBIDTA was at Rs 690.1 million, as against Rs 505.4 million in FY‘09, showing a 36.54 per cent jump.
During the fiscal, Sangli Media Services became a subsidiary of IMCL, effective 2 July. IMCL also acquired 50 per cent stake in RMD Baroda Networks, effective 1 April 2009.
IMCL said its investments in new geographies have contributed to the growth and continued profitability of the company.
The company said it was the practice of IMCL to adjust the additional depreciation on revalued assets from revaluation reserve. During the year, IMCL has changed its policy to charge such additional depreciation to the Profit and Loss account instead of revaluation reserve. Accordingly, additional depreciation of Rs 51.98 million has been charged to Profit and Loss account for the fiscal.
IMCL has deployed over 400,000 set top boxes for converting analogue to digital homes. This includes 150,000 digital boxes in the mandated Cas (conditional access system) areas.
IMCL has a reach of over eight million subscribers across 27 major cities. It offers 230 channels in the digital mode and about 90 TV channels on analogue cable.
IMCL has a backbone of over 6500 km of hybrid fibre optic network.
The company is also into content creation, acquisition and aggregation for TV services.
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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.
