Applications
DTH ops seek scale amid losses
NEW DELHI: The DTH industry has invested Rs 250 billion to build scale into their business model, but it is badly hurting their pockets. Dragged down by low ARPUs (average revenue per user), high customer acquisition costs and exorbitant taxation, DTH companies are bleeding profusely. “The DTH sector has piled up a subscriber base of 17.5 million over the first five years. The total investment stands at Rs 250 billion and all of us are bleeding,” said Tata Sky managing director and chief executive officer Vikram Kaushik. |
Taking a dig at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Kaushik urged the need for a broadcast regulator. “Trai has an overhang of the telecom sector as that was the first thing they regulated. We desperately need a broadcast regulator who can understand our requirements,” he said, while speaking at the India Digital Networks Summit 2009 here today. The under-reporting by the cable TV operators is keeping ARPUs artifically low and hurting everybody. “This is the crux of the problem and Trai has not understood this,” said Kaushik, who heads a DTH service that has the “best” and the “healthiest” ARPU among all the operators in the country. The fierce competition over pricing is also being led by Sun Direct, the DTH company promoted by Kalanithi Maran. “Disruptive pricing is hurting not just the DTH companies but also negatively impacting the entire process of digitisation in India. This is unsustainable,” said Kaushik. Sun Direct, which has the fastest run in subscriber growth, has an ARPU of under Rs 100 as against Tata Sky‘s Rs 200. “We have to compete with the cable TV operators and build a business case around it. We have already reached 4.3 million subscribers,” said Sun Direct COO Tony D‘Silva. Emphasizing the need for equity in pricing, taxation and a level Speaking about low ARPUs, high content cost and taxes, Airtel Digital TV CEO Ajai Puri said, “DTH is a scale business in India and has a great potential to grow. But the business model is still a big question mark.” NDS Asia-Pacific SVP Sue Taylor said the government should encourage the sector and do away with such a high level of taxation. |
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.
