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Star Group and PCCW to jointly explore IPTV pay-TV business
MUMBAI: Star Group and Richard Li‘s Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW) will be working together to explore the IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) pay-TV opportunities in various markets.
PCCW is the parent company of Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) and it‘s broadband network serves all major business areas and 95 percent of Hong Kong households – one of the highest such percentages in the world.
Leveraging PCCW’s expertise in building and operating an IPTV business and Star’s strength and experience in content creation and distribution and the pay-TV business, the two companies will look into opportunities to work with platform operators and media companies in Asia for the rollout of IPTV services.
PCCW‘s now TV is the world leader in IPTV with more than 550,000 users, subscribing to the service since its launch in August 2003 and representing over 25 per cent of homes so far in Hong Kong. now TV carries over 110 TV and audio channels including 17 channels provided by Star and its joint ventures.
PCCW executive director Alex Arena said, “PCCW has a wealth of experience in quickly implementing and operating a successful IPTV pay-TV business. Telecom and broadband companies from around the world visit us regularly, to explore how PCCW can share its experience with them. We are delighted to work together with Star to develop these opportunities.”
Star CEO Michelle Guthrie said, “We are excited to expand our working relationship with now TV, a tremendous partner of ours in Hong Kong, to explore opportunities across Asia. It is clear that IPTV will be an exciting distribution platform in the future. Today’s announcement underscores our efforts to help unlock its full potential, enabling Star to deliver content to more people across the region.”
The Star/PCCW cooperation will involve full pay-TV operations and will be in addition to worldwide technical and IT solutions provided by Cascade Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of PCCW. Cascade has built and installed end-to-end technical IPTV solutions in countries as far afield as Thailand and Morocco. Ongoing discussions are in progress with a number of other overseas operators.
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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.
