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Formula One goes pay in Italy with Sky deal
MUMBAI: The days of Formula One races airing on free to air channels in Italy has come to an end with News Corp-owned pay TV broadcaster Sky Italy securing the live telecast rights for all the races starting 2013.
Of the total 20 races, only nine of the races will be shown live free-to-air while the remaining 11 races will have delayed telecast. Public service broadcaster RAI currently holds the broadcast rights.
Sky Italia has bought the rights for all platforms including web, tablet, smartphone and IPTV (Internet TV).
The national broadcaster who would acquire a share of the rights would be agreed between Sky and Formula One, the broadcaster said.
The deal follows in the footsteps of a similar deal that happened in UK where Sky Sports bagged the rights to air F1 races till 2018 while BBC has the rights to show highlights for all the races with the sole exception British Grand Prix, which will be shown live by the pubcaster.
Sky Italia CEO Andrea Zappia said, “We are proud to bring the spectacle of Formula 1 back to the Sky Italia platform, with 11 of the GP races broadcast live on an exclusive basis. This agreement with FOM adds to Sky‘s already outstanding Sports offer, which was further enriched by the recent purchase of the MotoGP TV rights. These investments show how our company is determined to confirm its leading position in the Italian TV market.”
“We have worked with Sky Italia in the past and I have no doubts about their production standards. We have a similar agreement in Britain that is working very well,” said Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone added.
Sky Italia recently won the broadcast rights to MotoGP from 2014.
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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.
