Applications
News Corp increases stake in Sky Deutschland
MUMBAI: By way of a new share issue, News Corporation has increased its stake in Sky Deutschland from 39.96 to 45.4 per cent.
The company has announced that it has agreed to subscribe up to 49 million new registered shares in Sky Deutschland via a capital increase that is expected to raise between 110 million euros and 120 million euros.
The capital increase is expected to happen in January 2010. The funds will be used for sales and marketing efforts to drive subscriptions upgrading Sky‘s HD capacity ncluding the launch of four new channels next year and investing in programming.
Noted outgoing CEO Mark Williams, “From all we have seen, I am confident that this is the right time to invest in the future growth of this company. I am pleased that News Corporation supports this view.
“More than 350,000 new customers have decided to subscribe to the service since launch. We are excited about the new products and programming that we have coming down the line and believe that customers have much more to look forward to in 2010.”
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.
