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Ortel moves Tdsat against Zee TV, Sun & ETV
NEW DELHI: Orissa-based Ortel Communication‘s expansion plans to West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh has run into litigation, with the company suing Sun TV, Zee TV and ETV for not giving it their content in those areas. Three separate cases have been filed in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) involving the three broadcasters, and notices have been issued to the parties. “We are already operational in Rajarhat (Kolkata), and this experience, gave us the confidence to move into Vizag,” a company official says. Rajarhat is a small and upcoming township adjacent to the upmarket Salt Lake City in Kolkata. Though Ortel has been in Rajarhat for the past few months, Zee has not given the signals to the MSO. “We have filed a petition against the company in Tdsat, which is slated to be heard on 1 May,” the official said. Ortel is offering all the major channels like Star, Zee, Sony, ESPN and Star Sports in this market. “Sun TV and ETV have been deferring provision of their signal to Ortel‘s Vizag network since the past four months. We are not getting Gemini, Teja and ETV Telugu. We are, however, getting a few Telugu channels,” the official said. Ortel has filed petitions with the appellate authorities against Gemini TV and ETV for depriving its customers from their signals,” the official said Tdsat has admitted the case and issued notices to the parties. The first hearing will be held on 8 May. When contacted, a senior official of ETV did not wish to comment on the issue.
Ortel has faced resistance from existing cable operators in Vizag city. “What is surprising is that even some of the regional language channels have presumably formed a cartel and joined hands with local operators to foil our bid to make a dent in the Vizag market,” the official says.
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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.
