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Dish TV reduces Q2 loss to Rs 561 mn
MUMBAI: Dish TV has narrowed its net loss as subscriber growth stays bullish, pushing up operational income for the three months ending September. The direct-to-home (DTH) company has posted a net loss of Rs 561.34 million, significantly lower than Rs 1.54 billion in the earlier-year period. |
Amid an addition of 0.41 million subscribers during the quarter, Dish TV posted a 48.59 per cent jump in total income to Rs 2.57 billion. Dish TV expects the subscriber ramp up to continue in the third quarter. In the month of October, the DTH operator has mopped up 300000 subscribers. Says Dish TV chairman Subhash Chandra, “We have achieved robust growth in tough market conditions. Our focus on operational excellence and internal measures such as cost optimisation has supported the results. We also continued with our investment programmes to support our growth.” Dish TV has kept expenses flat at Rs 3.07 billion, as compared to Rs 3.10 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The pressure on ARPU (average revenue per user) continues, falling to Rs 139 from Rs 142 in the trailing quarter. In the second quarter of FY‘09, the ARPU stood higher at Rs 150. The average subscriber acquisition cost rose to Rs 2635, up from Rs 2487 in the trailing quarter. For the second quarter of FY‘09, the customer acquisition price was at Rs 2601. Dish TV said it would continue to focus on increasing ARPUs, value added services, commercial sales (hotels, restaurants, pubs, clubs, malls), brand building and penetration. Dish TV has a sales and distribution infrastructure of over 800 distributors and 48,000 dealers across 6600 towns. |
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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.
