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Take-up of digital TV in UK homes at 91.4%
MUMBAI: The take-up of digital television in UK households stands at 91.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009, up by 1.9 percentage points (pp) in the quarter and 2.6 per cent year on year.
According to a survey conducted by UK media watchdog Ofcom Consumer, consumers are continuing to convert additional sets in their homes. As a result almost 69 per cent of all secondary TV sets had been converted to digital by the end of Q4, up by around 8.5 percentage points in a year.
Taking these figures together, 79 per cent of all TV sets had converted to digital television by the end of Q4 2009 (up 6.7 percentage points on a year ago). The remaining 21 per cent of sets continue to receive analogue terrestrial broadcasts.
The study also states that sales of digital terrestrial television (DTT) enabled equipment reached over 4.7 million units in Q4, the highest quarterly sales so far and up by 6 per cent on Q4 2008.
Integrated digital television sets (IDTVs) accounted for almost 74 per centof sales in the quarter (3.5 million units) with around 99 per cent of TV sets sold now, including an integrated digital decoder.
Meanwhile, freeview set-top boxes accounted for almost 1.2 million sales in the quarter, down seven per cent on the previous Q4. In 2009 almost 13.7 million DTT units (IDTVs and set-top-boxes) were sold, compared to 12.5 million in 2008, an increase of nine per cent.
The number of homes relying on DTT as their sole means of digital TV reception reached around 10.1 million according to the survey results in Q4 2009. This was equivalent to almost 40 per cent of all homes and up by around 1.6 percentage points on Q3 2009. Separately, freeview also reported in December 2009 that it was the main digital TV service in 10 million homes.
In total, around 42 per cent of households (10.8 million) received a free-to-view digital television service on their main set at the end of December; 39.6 per cent had a non-pay DTT service and 2.5 per cent had free-to-view satellite.
The Q4 survey also indicated that approaching 9.2 million or almost 36 per cent of homes, received satellite pay TV services, up 1.1 percentage points year on year. BSkyB reported that it added 172,000 subscribers to its pay television service in the UK and Republic of Ireland during the fourth quarter; we estimate that around 150,000 of these were UK additions.
Research results for Q4 show that 12.4 per cent of homes took cable television. Separately, Virgin Media reported net additions of over 34,000 TV subscribers, with its total TV customer base now over 3.7 million. Digital cable added around 57,000 subscribers in the quarter (when including conversions from analogue cable) and accounted for 98 per cent of all cable television customers.
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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.
