Applications
DTH ops start HD price war
MUMBAI: The price war on the HD front has begun. Soon after Tata Sky announced its aggressive entry pricing, market leader Dish TV has dropped the cost of its Tru HD box from Rs 5,990, when launched, to Rs 2,990.
Dish TV’s package includes the price of the set-top box (STB), LNB, Dish antenna and remote. The company is also offering two months subscription of Platinum/South Platinum Pack and two months subscription of HD Pack. Customers will have to pay an extra amount of Rs 200 for installation.
Direct-to-home (DTH) operators sense they can expand their up-end customers through their HD service offerings. Tata Sky had set the ball rolling with the launch of its High Definition (HD) service at a price of Rs 2,599.
Sun Direct is offering the HD set-top-box bundled with subscription package at Rs 9990, while Big TV‘s service comes at Rs 7,490 (HD with DVR technology).
On the content front, Dish TV’s HD pack includes Zee TV HD, Zee Cinema HD, Discovery HD and National Geographic HD. ESPN Star Sports has also extended its HD feed for the football World Cup and Wimbledon to Dish TV, Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV.
Indiantelevision.com had earlier predicted that DTH operators would start a cut-throat price war on the HD front.
The competition in the DTH sector is going to be fierce this year as the market is set for rapid expansion. DTH operators expect to add 11 million subscribers in FY’11 due to a spate of sporting events, the peak for any year.
Applications
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.
