Applications
Mobile TV needs to build robust content delivery workflow
SINGAPORE: Mobile TV may be the latest media buzzword doing the rounds at Broadcast Asia in Singapore, but there are some key things that operators have to keep in mind including putting in place a content delivery workflow. The increase in devices and delivery networks also presents challenges. These points were made at the Mobile TV Forum by Tandberg Television CTO Group, VP of global business development Noel Matthews. According to Matthews, a content delivery workflow will decrease costs by streamlining operational procedures. It will also reduce the risk of errors being made vis-a-vis content. It allows for more automation which will boost productivity. This will achieve the goal of delivering content on demand, on line and on the move. The firm helped a cable television service provider who wanted to go into mobile TV while reducing its expenditure. So Tandberg put in a workflow and integrated it with the firm‘s already existing infrastructure. It did an automate conversion of thousands of hours of video and still assets into house format for playout on MPEG 4 set top boxes, MPEG The result was that the broadcaster was able to increase the amount of on-demand content offered each month to 7000 hours from 2500 hours. The content was able to be delivered to multiple platforms. Only seven people were needed to work the system. The content distribution workflow co-ordinates all activities from contract signing to content delivery. The workflow also offers the flexibility to add new technologies going forward. It synchronises process tasks through simple integration with third party technologies. In terms of the potential for mobile TV, he notes that it can beyond just having the TV experience on the mobile. In the future one will see mobisodes, narrowcast services, interactivity, PVR, regionalisation. This provides both a challenge and an opportunity for content providers. At the moment the problem being faced is that while technology implementation is in place business proceses are not completed. Also more complex services have to be delivered more quickly. There is also a ned for the business to have visibility of complete content processes. Another challenge is that while technology choices have been made in different silos, no system is in place to enable business processes to be coordinated across them. There is also limited business intelligence available across content silos. The factors that will be responsible for success are not clear to the senior management. There was also a panel discussion at the forum. Sony Pictures Television International, executive VP, MD Todd Miller offered a broadcasters perspective on mobile TV. Sony is looking to have all its catalogue available for the platform. However it has gone beyond that. It has a mobile service for AXN and Animax. It is also producing content for the mobile. This has started in Korea and the US. He notes that operators are now starting to understand that quality content is a discipline and that they must invest in it. A recent study done in Korea and the Philippines shows that many people are willing to switch operators in favour of those offering mobile TV. So while an operator might make good money through voice, taking a light approach to mobile TV might open the door for a competitor to offer differentiation. What is also interesting is that the number of broadcasters rolling out DVB-H like DD is more than the number of telecom operators doing it. One difficulty for mobile operators is that often TV channels do not own the right to sell content for that platform. Sony is an exception to this. As a result an operator has to start from scratch. Another challenge for operators is that Asia is a pre-paid market. So they do not own their subscribers. It is also easier for a broadcaster to get into mobile as you have one spectrum going out to everyone.
2 set top boxes and Web enabled PCs. The content source was VoD assets like movies, trailers from traditional distributors.
The other speakers were International Mobile Broadcasting chairman, co-founder and CEO Tom Navasero, Speedcast CEO Pierre-Jean Beylier and Viaccess VP Asia Francois Galy. The point was made that while operators are caught up in discussion on technology, mobile TV is not about SDMB or DVB-H in the final analysis. It is about providing a simple user experience and a simple pricing model. Some operators offer an old fashioned Wap interface. For simplicity one does not have to look further than the iphone. The cost of media mobile phones must come down to $100.
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.
