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Govt earns Rs 1.78 bn as licence fee from DTH in FY 11
NEW DELHI: The Government has earned Rs 1.78 billion in 2010-11 as licence fee from the six private direct-to-home (DTH) platforms as compared to Rs 1.26 billion in 2009-10.
This is as compared to revenue of Rs 893 million in 2008-09, when Bharti Telemedia (Airtel Digital TV) and Bharat Business Channel (Videocon d2h) had not entered the field, Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources said.
The other four players are Dish TV India, Tata Sky, Sun Direct, and Reliance Digital TV.
In addition to the licence fee, each of these players has also paid a one-time entry fee of Rs 100 million.
In the past three financial years, Dish TV has paid in licence fee a total of Rs 1.15 billion, Tata Sky Rs 1.48 billion, Sun Direct Rs 729.87 million, Reliance Digital TV paid Rs 207.29 million, Airtel Digital TV Rs 359.5 million and Videocon d2h Rs 2.01 million.
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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.
