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Airtel Digital TV expands HD bouquet with 4 new channels
MUMBAI: Airtel Digital TV, the DTH service from Bharti Airtel, has added 15 more channels to its offering taking the total channel count to 262.
The DTH platform has added four high definition (HD) channels – UTV Stars HD, The History Channel HD, Colors HD and CNBC TV 18 Prime HD taking its true HD channel count to 11.
The 11 SD channels include Sahara Samay, Sahara Samay UP, Sahara Samay Bihar, UTV Telegu Action and Sony Mix. With the addition, Airtel digital TV now offers 240 channels in SD.
The company has also priced its HD pack at Rs 89 per month (inclusive of taxes). Customers can also choose to go in for the Hindi HD Pack of four channels- Star Plus HD, Star Gold HD, Colors HD, UTV Stars HD for Rs 35 per month (inclusive of taxes).
Bharti Airtel CEO- DTH/ Media Shashi Arora said, “The growth of the HD category over the past year together with rising sales of flat panel TVs has added a new dimension to viewing experience. The recent initiatives of broadcasters over the past few months to look at different genres for True HD, has lent a welcome impetus to the process of the entire production, storage and distribution chain moving to HD. We will continue to strengthen our True HD content mix while continuing to bring in more content that suits regional preferences.”
Airtel Digital TV said that it is “committed to offerings its viewers a true high definition experience and thus carries no upscaled HD versions of SD channels”.
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.
