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WorldSpace kicks off satellite awards initiative
MUMBAI: WorldSpace Satellite Radio is looking to provide subscribers with a personalised listening experience throughout this month. It kicked off ‘Honors Week‘ with its own inaugural satellite radio awards show, Worldspace Honours, on 12 February 2007 live from Studio 2 at Abbey Road, the legendary recording studio of The Beatles. |
WorldSpace Honours is the first satellite radio award show to recognise music and artistic contribution by artists from more than 20 musical genres represented on WorldSpace channels ranging from Up Country to Jhankaar and The System to Shruti. The honorees will be chosen by WorldSpace’s executive selection committee made up of programming staff from each of the 20 channels represented. WorldSpace Satellite Radio VP global programming William Sabatini says, “WorldSpace Honours presents a completely new format for satellite music awards and was created to reflect the diversity of our music programming, the expertise of our staff, and the broad range of preferences of our subscribers. We are also thrilled to be announcing our choices for the WorldSpace Honours, live from the prestigious Abbey Road Studios.” |
WorldSpace VP content marketing Ted Kelly, and WorldSpace india director of network programming Velu Shankar will host the awards show and will announce this year’s 23 honourees. Specialty programming is being created by the company to showcase each artist and will include interviews, career highlights, background information and their music. Subscribers can listen throughout the day for all honourees and can tune in to their favorite WorldSpace Satellite Radio channel from 16-19 February 2007, when each honouree’s works will be showcased throughout the weekend. “Honours Week” will also feature the second annual “UPop @ Abbey Road Sessions” which has officially kicked off with the Honours Award Show on 12 February 2007 and run through 15 February. The sessions feature four days of performances and recording sessions from some of yesterday’s and today’s stars, live from Abbey Road Studio 2. Additionally, WorldSpace will again host the global broadcast of Europe’s biggest music event—the Brit Awards—on Feb. 14. The live broadcast will feature backstage and red carpet interviews, celebrity appearances and performances by more than a dozen superstars. Channels that will air music of the honourees include including Maestro, Riff, Potion, Radio Voyeger, Spin, Surabhi, Ghandharv, Jhankaar, Spandana and Moksha. |
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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.
