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Sun Direct launches metro pack for urban consumers
MUMBAI: Sun Direct has announced a new Metro pack to expand its customer base in the urban areas.
With the metro pack, which is targeted at the “cosmopolitan urban class”, the company is hoping to increase the average revenue per user (ARPU). At present, Sun Direct’s ARPU stands at the lowest at Rs 90.
The metro pack is priced at Rs 1490 for six months. The channels would be part of a premium pack. Metro pack is bundled with channels of regional flavor, the company said.
For rest of India, there are Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Oriya and Hindi channels available, while for South India, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language channels are offered.
Other channels in the pack are Star Movies, HBO, Zee Cinema, Star Plus, Zee TV, and news and music channels.
Recently Sun Direct had launched the HD services. The company said that this is a focused approach to penetrate deep into the metro market where most of the viewing pattern indicates the requirement of a light combo pack comprising news, most viewed GECs and music with a regional touch catering to every member of the household.
Says Sun Direct COO Tony D’Silva, “It‘s important that we offer our busy and mobile urban audiences more ways to access the huge range of Sun Direct channels available in a crisp and concise format. This innovative version of pack underlines our commitment to reaching new audiences by making Sun Direct services as customer friendly as possible.”
Sun Direct, which claims a subscriber base of 4.8 million, has also announced added validity of 15 days and one month on a recharge of six months and 12 months respectively.
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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.
