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Uptake of digital TV in the UK faster than expected: Ofcom
MUMBAI: Britain‘s media regulatory body Ofcom has published its Communications Market: Digital Progress Report for the first quarter of 2006 i.e. January-March.
The report shows that digital television was viewed by 72.5 per cent (18.2 million) UK television per households – up from 69.5 per cent at the end of last year.
The take-up of digital television is growing faster than expected. Ofcom’s last Digital Progress Report had forecast that an extra 1.7 million homes would take-up digital television this year. By the end of March almost 800,000 extra households had already done so.
The number of free-to-view digital households (Freeview plus free-to-view satellite) is estimated to have grown by 9.7 per cent from January to March to over 7.7 million.
Freeview has for the first time overtaken traditional analogue television on primary sets in the home. Almost 7.1 million households have Freeview on the primary television set compared to around 6.4 million who are yet to take-up digital television.
Freeview sales for January to March were up 40 per cent on the same period in 2005 at over 1.2 million, making this the third successive quarter in which sales have exceeded the 1 million mark. Estimates suggest that 38 per cent of Freeview sales are intended for secondary television sets in the home.
Ofcom notes that digital satellite is the UK’s most popular digital television platform viewed by 8.3 million, or 30 per cent of homes of which almost 7.7 million subscribe to BSkyB pay services and 645,000 receive free-to-view satellite services.
Just under one million BSkyB households view pay television on more than one television set through BSkyB’s Multiroom subscription service. The number of cable television households increased slightly over the quarter and is currently just over 3.3 million. Over 70,000 digital cable subscribers were added during the quarter, mainly as a result of analogue subscribers transferring to digital services.
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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.
