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DD Direct to shift to Insat-4B in June
NEW DELHI: DD Direct, Doordarshan‘s direct-to-home (DTH) service, plans to shift to the Indian satellite Insat-4B between 1-15 June. Though DD’s contract with the five transponders on NSS 6 closes on 31 May, it has requested the Netherlands-based company to use the space on one transponder till 15 June. The broadcaster will have to pay Rs 37 million for the extended 15-day period. “Prasar Bharati has indicated to us that DD Direct would move to Insat-4B in the period 1-15 June,” says Indian Space Research Organisation contract management and legal services director SB Iyer.Prasar Bharati pays NSS around Rs 225 million annually. The shift from the Netherlands-based NSS 6 will not only mean savings in foreign exchange but also clarity in picture since Insat-4B is better placed than the European satellite, Prasar Bharati CEO B S Lalli tells Indiantelevision.com. Insat-4B is located in a geostationary orbit of 93.5 degrees East, which is closer to Indian than NSS 6 which is located at 95 degrees East.ISRO has assured Prasar Bharati that it will not face any shortage of transponders. DD will initially be using five transponders but can ask for more whenever it needs them, says Lalli. |
DD will be able to beam up to 10 channels from each transponder. It presently beams around 32 channels of which 26 are its own. But this number is expected to go up to 50 with private FTA channels becoming available. Sun Direct, Kalanithi Maran‘s DTH service, has also booked Ku-band transponders on Insat-4B. The satellite has 12 Ku-band and as many C-band transponders for broadcasting and communication services.“There is no requirement for more transponders from DD now. If they need more, we will make the necessary arrangement for them in a neighbouring location,” says Iyer. According to a DD engineer, further compression is possible using the MPEG 4 technology but DD prefers to use MPEG 2 and beam fewer channels from each transponder “for ensuring better quality.” |
DD officials have held meetings with cable operators, hardware manufacturers and multi-system operators (MSOs) to familiarize them with the changes that will have to be made to reach out to 4.8 million viewers of DD Direct.Doordarshan has circulated a four-page brochure to educate viewers and service providers about the changes to be made to their dish antennae and in the set top boxes. Though the service providers will make these changes, the engineer said this can be done even by the subscriber on his own. DD’s DTH would be available across five transponders in the KU Band on Insat-4B, on the frequencies 10990, 11070, 11150, 11490 and 11570 MHz on vertical polarisation and a uniform symbol rate of 27500 ksps.The engineer said each antenna has to be rotated (with the person standing behind the dish antenna) clockwise by 1.5 degrees to the right and tilted up by 1.5 degrees. The brochure gives details of how subscribers can adjust the STB on their own, in case the services of a service provider are not available. |
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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.
