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WWIL consumes Rs 2.12 bn from rights issue
MUMBAI: Wire and Wireless (India) Limited (WWIL) has mopped up Rs 2.12 billion from the first tranche of its Rs 4.5 billion rights issue.
The remaining amount will pour in by March-end as the Subhash Chandra-promoted cable TV distribution company plans to go aggressive on its Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) operations.
“WWIL has utilised the entire Rs 2.12 billion. The company has repaid Rs 1.6 billion towards unsecured loans. Investment has also been made for HITS and some acquisitions,” WWIL CEO Sudhir Agarwal tells Indiantelevision.com.
WWIL has invested Rs 1.5 billion for HITS and is the lone operator in this segment so far.
The company has widened its third-quarter consolidated net loss to Rs 344.58 million as revenue dropped 12 per cent. WWIL also took a knock of around Rs 140 million losses from HITS.
WWIL had posted a loss of Rs 226.74 million in the year-ago period.
“We are expanding the market through HITS. In the same period of last fiscal, we hadn‘t started these operations,” says Agarwal.
Operating revenues fell 12 per cent to Rs 722.2 million for the quarter ended 31 December 2009, compared to Rs 817.9 million in the prior year.
“The television distribution market in India is fast changing, with visible signs of progression towards a digital environment. The HITS policy announcement this quarter is a positive indication and I am confident that digital cable will also start playing an important role in the digitization of television,” says WWIL chairman Subhash Chandra.
Expenses in the quarter dipped marginally by 2 per cent at Rs 793.6 million, compared to Rs 810.3 million in the year-ago period. WWIL has streamlined staff and content costs over the quarters.
Operating loss for the quarter was Rs 71.3 million, as against an operating profit of Rs 7.7 million in the prior year.
The operating profit for analogue business in Q3 was Rs 61 million compared to an operating profit of Rs 8 million.
Says Agarwal, “The initial rollout of HITS has focused on tapping critical tier-II and tier-III cities and we are scaling up at decent pace. I am confident that going forward, HITS shall be a win-win proposition for WWIL, its consumers and stakeholders.”
WWIL promoters pledged 32.2 million shares, or 11.2 per cent of their stake, amounting to 7.1 per cent equity of the company.
Shares of WWIL closed Friday at Rs 19.15 on the BSE, down 2.54 per cent from its previous close.
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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.
