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GlobeCast invests in MPEG4 solution for HD delivery of EPL
MUMBAI: GlobeCast has renewed and expanded its contract with IMG Sports Media Production, a division of global sports and media company IMG Worldwide.
The three-year deal will provide HD coverage of up to six English Premier League (EPL) football matches per week and an incomplete highlights package to rightsholders across Europe, Asia and the Americas.
As a result, GlobeCast has made an investment in MPEG4 upgrades for its two UK sites, strengthening its position as one of the most HD capable ad hoc providers in the world.
Before the start of the 2010/11 season in August, GlobeCast installed dual dark fibres, channelized to take 16 HDSDI feeds, between IMG and their Technical Operations Center (TOC) in Central London. This new link, which is capable of receiving up to eight simultaneous redundant feeds, has enabled GlobeCast to take all matches in uncompressed high definition before multiplexing them with MPEG4 compression through an Ericsson nCompass 6 multiplexer for delivery to satellite.
For broadcast across Asia and Europe, all six feeds are uplinked to the IS904 and W2A satellites respectively for downlink by rightsholders across the region. For the Americas, all feeds are converted using Snell & Wilcox HD Alchemist frame-rate converters, before being uplinked to Intelsat’s IS9 satellite. Several match feeds are also being sent via the GlobeCast Backbone Network (GCBN) for playout in Hong Kong.
The MPEG4 multiplex solution allows GlobeCast to uplink the feeds directly out of its central London facility or from its teleport in Brookman’s Park.
GlobeCast will also be delivering incomplete highlights packages of the games to rightsholders 30 minutes after the match feeds finish.
GlobeCast has worked with IMG for the delivery of EPL matches since 2007.
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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.
