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Sun Direct expects to end FY’10 with 6 mn subscribers
NEW DELHI: Kalanithi Maran-promoted Sun Direct expects to grow its subscriber base from 4.3 million to six million by the end of this fiscal. “A major part of our subscriber additions would come during the festive season. We will be having six million subscribers by the end of this fiscal,” Sun Direct COO Tony D’Silva said here today on the sidelines of India Digital Networks Summit 2009. |
Indiantelevision.com had reported earlier that Sun Direct is targeting a revenue of Rs 10 billion and six million subscriber base for FY‘10. The southern DTH major, which launched a high-definition (HD) service in April this year, is still to increase the ARPU (average revenue per user) levels from the lowest in the industry. “In the southern region, Sun Direct has an Arpu between Rs 75-100, while in the northern belt it falls in the region of Rs 125-140,” said D’Silva. D’Silva also said that the HD service is getting good response from consumers and he is expecting it to grow in the festival season. “We have got 3000 subscribers for Sun Direct HD. These are early days but we expect to get a boost from the Commonwealth Games,” he added. |
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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.
