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DD to launch eight channels on mobile on 23 May
NEW DELHI: For the first time in India, a pilot project for providing television on mobile phones is being launched by Doordarshan, although trial runs have been going on since February. Information and broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi will push the key to start the project tomorrow morning in the presence of Prasar Bharati CEO B S Lalli and other dignitaries. Lalli told indiantelevision.com that the pilot project is only aimed at reaching mobile phones within a radius of ten kilometer of the Doordarshan television tower on Parliament Street in New Delhi. After the launch of this service in Delhi, the system will be replicated in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. |
The service will initially be free to air and the channels available on the Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H) mode will be: DD National (DD 1), DD News, DD Bharati, DD Sports, DD Urdu, DD Bangla and DD Podhigai. While admitting that Nokia had been the first to demonstrate the capability of showing television signals on mobiles, he said the scheme was ‘vendor neutral’ and any mobile provider could download the signals and telecast them. He denied reports of a commercial tie-up with any company. Lalli claimed that the test runs for DVB-H had been successful, and expressed the hope that the number of channels would be raised to ten to 15 in the next few months. |
According to him, the cost of the TV compatible handset had been brought down to Rs 18,000 from the initial Rs 32,000 and may come down further to around Rs 6,000. Meanwhile, it is learnt that Bharti Telesoft is offering its proprietary technology to GSM mobile service providers and expects to have half-a-million subscribers watch TV on mobiles within six months of starting the service in May. The technology involves compressing an audio file to four to five times smaller than MP3 (audio format) and delivers a video format up to 10 times more efficient than MPEG-4 (video format), the company claimed. |
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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.
