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Kolkata to go completely digital from 28 December
MUMBAI: Kolkata‘s cable television will go completely digital from 28 December.
The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry has cracked the whip for switching off of all analogue television signals in the West Bengal state capital by 27 December.
The multi-system operators (MSOs) will begin the process of switching off of analogue signals from 16 December. The second genre-wise switch off will be on 20, followed by 23 and finally 27 December when the Bengali language channels also go dark on analogue cable.
"The I&B ministry has said that from 16 December onwards till 27 December all the analogue channels should go off air and only digital should be activated (from 28 December)," Siti Cable Kolkata director Suresh Sethia told Indiantelevision.com.
Cable television networks in Mumbai and Delhi have already gone totally digital. According to a TAM survey, set-top boxes (STBs) required for digital reception have been deployed in 93 per cent of cable TV homes in Mumbai, 97 per cent in Delhi and 70 per centin Kolkata.
The I&B had mandated compulsory switch to digital delivery of cable television in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai from 1 November. The ministry did not push for switching off of analogue signals along with Mumbai and Delhi as a large number of homes in Kolkata were still on analogue then. The situation has now changed. Over 75 per cent of cable TV homes in Kolkata now have STBs installed.
Sethia said almost 85 per cent of Siti Cable‘s subscribers now have STBs installed.
Manthan Broadband services, a regional multi-system operator, is also pushing for digitisation. "We have received a communication from the I&B ministry and will be switching off analogue signals completely by the deadline specified. We have also worked out a lower-priced package for those subscribers who hold a BPL (below poverty line) card as desired by the West Bengal state government," said Manthan business head Samrat Sen.
Chennai is the only city still to go digital as the Madras High Court is hearing a petition filed by associations of cable operators. The court has scheduled a hearing in the last week of this month.
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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.
