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A tough digital road for cable
MUMBAI: Cable TV companies will face rout if they do not capitalise and act swiftly and decisively to counter DTH’s invasion across the country.
The time has arrived for the big multi-system operators (MSOs) to stop adding analogue weight and focus on building a strong base for digitisation and broadband services.
“Cable companies do not have the luxury of time. They are under-invested and have not done their job. If DTH does not kill them, Internet will as watching television on the move picks up. They will have to act swiftly. If I am a cable company, I would be concerned. The investments may be too little and come too late,” warned IDFC Securities MD and research head Nikhil Vora.
Hathway Cable & Datacom managing director and chief executive officer K Jayaraman said the big MSOs had taken the consolidation route for the last few years and now the thrust should be on digitisation.
“The top-tier MSOs have enough market share and do not need consolidation. There will be more stress if they add more analogue homes. When the government is expected to mandate digitisation soon, it does not make sense to acquire last mile operators by paying a premium at this stage,” Jayaraman said, while speaking at the India Digital Pay-TV Summit.
Exponentia Capital principal Neeraj Bhatia agreed that the top MSOs have built enough economic size with a reach of over eight million homes. “Horizontal consolidation does not make sense at this stage as they all have size. Vertical consolidation is the need of the hour as the acquisition of operators will lead to revenue augmentation. For MSOs to attract capital from investors, they will have to demonstrate that they can achieve profitability faster,” he said.
Vora raised the issue of the sector failing to take risks. “Unlike DTH, the cable companies have not made investments ahead of time. Everybody knows it is a long-haul business. Digitisation, undoubtedly, throws open a huge opportunity. But if fatigue sets in among cable companies, DTH will grow,” Vora said.
Jayaraman believes that the big MSOs will not face funding problem in the first phase of digitisation. “There is cash residing in these companies. They will also be able to raise some debt. Along with vendor financing, there shouldn‘t be a problem in funding the first phase. Some of the MSOs can also raise capital through rights issue. There are enough avenues to raise capital,” he said.
Being wired companies, cable TV networks have an inherent technology advantage over direct-to-home service providers. “The problem, however, lies in the poor track record of the cable companies. There is also the issue of structuring of the industry with the local operators having control of the last mile,” averred Bhatia.
The cable TV sector will see a new wave of consolidation under a digitisation regime. “The industry will consolidate further and MSOs will be aggressive in this space. Cable companies have used their capital intelligently. While DTH has grown to 30 million, only nine million out of this has come from urban areas. Analogue cable has also added 20 million during this period,” said Den president SN Sharma.
A phase-wise rollout of digitisation will provide the distribution companies a huge growth opportunity. “The ones who have done well in Phase I will have the country to themselves,” concluded Bhatia.
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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.
