Applications
Premium VoD services to drive 20% growth
MUMBAI: Pay TV providers are preparing to offer viewers premium video on demand (VoD) offerings.
Premium VoD is one of a handful of new services, along with advanced advertising and catch-up TV services, which will drive 20 per cent growth in the worldwide market for VoD equipment, from $493 million in 2010 to $591 million in 2016.
While expensive, the total cost of premium VoD is designed to be less than that of theater tickets and a babysitter. Some customers may prefer the flexibility to stay at home while watching more recent content. For the time, however, this offering is expected to add some marginal revenue for content owners and operators without significantly altering the content revenue equations.
Pay TV providers have integrated extra security into premium VoD in order to protect content from illegal activity. Premium VoD requires close cooperation of VoD server and content protection vendors.
In the case of DirecTV’s premium VoD launch, Home Premiere, SeaChange worked to integrate watermarking technology by Civolution to help persuade Hollywood to release premium content to video on demand (VoD) platforms.
Operators are also implementing advanced advertising solutions to help justify upgrades to their VoD equipment. Comcast recently announced they are using dynamic pre-roll and post-roll ads for VoD content in selected markets, with a full rollout expected by 2012.
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.
