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Cable, DTH locked in ad war
MUMBAI: The ad war between direct-to-home (DTH) service providers and cable TV operators has started. Soon after Dish TV ran a full page campaign on print asking viewers to stop watching cable TV, operators have retaliated with the tagline “Cable TV – Service at your doorstep.”
The most obvious attack is on pricing. Dish TV, the ad says, offers all channels without the Star bouquet at Rs 300 per month. After adding up the 10 per cent licence fee and taxes (entertainment and service), the monthly bill in Mumbai will work out to Rs 412. Then there is the hardware and rental cost for the set-top boxes (STBs) which have to be paid in advance. Besides, there are no discounts for multi-TV homes, the ad states.
Cable prices in the conditional access system (CAS) areas, on the other hand, will begin from Rs 77 per month for the free-to-air (FTA) channels. The pricing for the pay channels is yet to be decided as broadcasters have to fix the rates. As for the set-top boxes, the early bird offer is Rs 2000. “With judicial intervention and government regulation now being brought in place, you too will reap benefits of CAS once it takes off from 1 January,” the ad says.
Regarding service, cable TV has run even on days of calamities. Most of the consumer complaints are pricing related issues which are linked to pay channel hikes. “Cable networks also provide internet service. How come you never faced price related issues when dealing with the same cable network,” the ad states.
The cable TV industry is “geared to usher in a new digital cable revolution with over 140 channels, radio services, games and on screen electronic programme guides.”
The cablewallah may have finally woken up to the competition from alternate digital distribution platforms. The battle, as they say, is just beginning.
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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.
