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Media brands engage consumers across digital platforms
MUMBAI: For years, media brands were TV-centric. All that is changing now with consumers engaging across a variety of digital touchpoints.
TV, however, continues to be the leading media channel. A study of 10 broadcast network and cable brands in the US, covering a five-week period, shows that an average of 90 per cent of consumers engaging
with a given brand did so on TV, while 25 per cent did so online and 12 per cent via online video.
This enhances the quality of brand engagement and also increases the complexity of media planning and analysis by orders of magnitude.
Says comScore VP of TV, cross-media solutions Joan FitzGerald said, “By leveraging comScore’s unique single-source multi-screen measurement panel, we are radically reducing this complexity of media planning by providing media companies with actionable insights that can be used to determine how to effectively reach their target audiences and optimize cross-media planning.”
comScore, which measures the digital world, and the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) have released a research white paper entitled How Multi-Screen Consumers Are Changing Media Dynamics, revealing several new findings about the viewing habits of consumers who engage with media brands across multiple touchpoints.
The key insights from the study include:
– Online Video and Multi-Screen Consumers are the most engaged and loyal brand consumers. Online video consumption proves to closely associate with consumer engagement with media brands overall. For most of the media brands, the multi-screen consumers who use the media brands via TV and online video spend more time with the content on any platform, and spend more time consuming the content on TV.
– Multi-Screen Consumer are demographically ‘On Target‘ – The study found that the segments of multi-screen consumers showing the highest propensity to engage tended to correlate strongly with those brands’ key demographic targets, suggesting that engagement on other platforms
represents an important extension of the key demographic audiences’ use and enjoyment of the media brands.
– Consumers are using digital platforms concurrently with TV to enrich experience – During the five-week period of analysis, 60 per cent of a media brand’s consumers accessed TV and Online during concurrent 30-minute increments. 29 per cent of the media brand’s consumers accessed Facebook concurrently with their TV viewing, suggesting digital platforms may be used to supplement the viewing experience and drive multi-platform engagement.
CIMM MD Jane Clarke said, “The media landscape is fragmenting at an ever-increasing rate, so having a measurement solution that traverses multiple screens is critical for everyone in the media ecosystem including brands, networks and advertisers. This new research conducted by CIMM and comScore offered a significant breakthrough in the use of new methodologies to help tackle the challenges of cross-platform measurement, revealing important findings about the cumulative reach, exposure and engagement of media brands and advertisers in a multi-screen environment.”
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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.
