Applications
Dish TV Q2 Ebidta flat on rise in selling expenses
Mumbai: Subhash Chandra-owned direct-to-home television services provider Dish TV on Thursday reported a flat operating profit in the second quarter ended 30 September from a quarter earlier as fall in content costs was offset by a sharp rise in selling and distribution expenses other than commission.
Dish TV‘s Ebitda in the second quarter was Rs 1.55 billion, the same as in the first quarter but up 18.3 per cent from a year earlier. Ebitda margin for the second quarter was 29.2 per cent, at the same level as in the previous quarter.
The DTH service provider‘s average revenue per user (ARPU) was up by Rs 3 to Rs 159 in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, following an increase in prices. This was reflected in a robust 4.73 per cent rise in subscription revenues in the second quarter to Rs 4.72 billion from Rs 4.55 billion a quarter earlier.
Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel said, “In line with our expectation, the price hike initiated in the last quarter flowed through partially to deliver an encouraging ARPU increase.”
Its programming and content costs was down to Rs 1.42 billion from Rs 1.51 billion in the first quarter but selling and distribution expenses other than commission rose 31 per cent to Rs 396.1 million in the second quarter from Rs 302.8 million a quarter earlier.
An exceptional gain of Rs 764 million in the second quarter resulted in Dish TV reporting a net profit of Rs 551 million, against a loss of Rs 323.2 million in the previous quarter. The exceptional gain was on account of a change in the accounting treatment of fluctuation in foreign currency rates following a clarification from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Despite the push towards digitisation in the key markets of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata from 1 November, Dish TV added only 477,000 new subscribers in the second quarter against 504,000 in the first quarter. The total number of subscribers of Dish TV as on 30 September was 13.9 million, of which 10 million were active subscribers.
Dish TV Q2 Performance:
Particulars | Quarter-ended | |
30.09.2012 | 30.06.2012 | |
| Total income from operations (net) | 53,362 | 51,996 |
| Total expenses | 53,126 | 51,557 |
| Finance costs | 3,172 | 5,722 |
| Profit / (loss) from ordinary activities after finance costs but before exceptional items | (2,133) | (3,232) |
| Exceptional items | 7,643 | – |
| Net profit / (loss) for the period | 5,510 | (3,232) |
“In terms of digital conversions, despite regular data on steady growth in digital deployment flowing in, on ground implementation remains lukewarm and nowhere close to numbers doing the rounds. However, with the government sending firm signals against extension of the analog sunset date, we continue to target reasonable subscriber uptake going forward,” he added.
Dish TV‘s total revenues in the second quarter at Rs 5.33 billion were up 2.56 per cent quarter-on-quarter up 2.56% and up 10 per cent from a year earlier.
Goel said “Dish TV continued to be free cash flow positive for the third consecutive quarter. Cost line items remained as projected; an expected hike in marketing cost came in due to additional spends around digitisation.”
Subscriber churn remained at 1 per cent per month despite the package price increase last quarter,” he added.
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.
