Applications
Forex losses upset Dish TV’s march to profitability
MUMBAI: Stung by a foreign exchange loss of Rs 304 million, Dish TV has widened its second-quarter net loss to Rs 486 million.
Dish TV‘s net loss has been shrinking for the last six quarters and stood at Rs 183 million for the quarter ended June, holding promise that it was inching towards a net profit situation.
Said Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel, “In line with our expectations, Dish TV moved closer to attaining bottom line profitability but for the loss due to foreign exchange fluctuation.”
The subscriber acquisition cost has climbed to Rs 2,232, up from Rs 2,058 in the trailing quarter.
Dish TV added 575,000 subscribers in the quarter, achieving a total of 11.7 million gross and 9.2 million net subscribers. The company has added 1.3 million subscribers in the first six months of the fiscal, marginally lagging behind its target of three million new customers in FY‘12.
Total revenue grew 4.78 per cent to Rs 4.82 billion. Subscription revenue accounted for Rs 4.12 billion.
Dish TV‘s ARPU (average revenue per user) has increased to Rs 152 (from Rs 150 in Q1 FY12), while the HD ARPU stood at Rs 454.
Dish TV has kept the expenses under control during the quarter, which stood at Rs 3.60 billion as against Rs 3.48 billion in the preceding quarter.
Ebitda rose to Rs 1.22 billion, from Rs 1.12 billion in the preceding quarter.
Said Goel, “Subscription revenue recorded sustained sequential increase while Ebitda maintained its upward trend registering an increase of 8.6 per cent compared to the immediately preceding quarter. Key operating metrics continued to be favourable, with ARPU registering encouraging improvement in a seasonally weak quarter. ARPU for HD subscribers was at a level of Rs 454, pointing to a window of opportunity to scale up overall ARPU‘s going forward.”
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.
