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Canal Overseas selects NDS for PVR service
MUMBAI: NDS, which provides technology solutions for digital pay-TV, has announced that Canal Overseas, the international arm of the Canal+ Group, is introducing a personal video recorder (PVR) service with a Flash-based Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) developed by NDS.
This is the first PVR service for Canal Overseas markets across the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean. French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa and the South Pacific will benefit from this service in the near future.
Canal Overseas has deployed a new version of NDS MediaHighway set-top box (STB) software to power its satellite pay-TV service. The new version of MediaHighway automatically downloads new software to each STB, enabling the STBs to detect the addition of an external hard drive and format the drive for use as a PVR.
Canal Overseas subscribers who wish to upgrade to a PVR service can now rent a Western Digital 500 GB hard disk to connect it to their dual-tuner Pace STB via its USB port.
The new version of NDS MediaHighway also provides the foundation for Canal Overseas to offer catch-up TV services in the future.
The Flash based EPG design and production is the result of collaboration between Canal Overseas, Canal+ CYFROWY’s design teams, NDS design studios in Paris and NDS’ R&D facility in India.
Canal Overseas CTO Marc Noblet says, “The delivery of the PVR service and Flash EPG is a great achievement. With the PVR, we offer a service most appreciated and expected by our customers. Indeed the PVR service will change their way of consuming television and allow them to make the most of their subscription.”
NDS senior VP president, Europe, Middle Eeast, Africa and Latin America Caroline Le Bigot commented, “MediaHighway is ideal for initiatives such as Canal Overseas‘ innovative Electronic Programme Guide which was designed with ease-of-use in mind. When content and services are easier to find, subscribers are more likely to access them, increasing revenues and reducing churn.”
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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.
