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Traditional media needs to partner with UGC sites
MUMBAI: Traditional media owners need to form a partnership with user generated content (UGC) sites to serve their consumers.
This was a point that came out at a session at Ficci Frames that looked at User generated Content: Seizing the Opportunity.
The speakers were Viacom 18 senior VP corporate strategy and business Anuj Poddar, NDTV Networks and NDTV Convergence CEO Vikram Chandra, Anand and Anand head of copyright and entertainment law Jagdish Sagar and Intel Software and Solutions Group director Asia Pacific Narendra Bhandari.
Balika Vadu, for instance, is one of the top viewed videos on Youtube in India, demonstrating how traditional media can pull new media.
Copyright, however, remains a challenge and there is a lack of value flowing back to content owners. Solutions, though, are evolving. UGC has set across norms, including the filtering of content that has a copyright.
There is no distinction being made between user created and user generated content, notes Sagar. In the first case, the content creator surrenders all rights he has when he puts it up on a site. Many things can be done to that content like translation which the owner cannot control. In the second instance, somebody else uploads the content which the content owner may not be aware of.
The key to get out of this quagmire is to find a user friendly way to empower copyright owners. Sites like YouTube promote copyright infringement, Sagar notes. Getting an injunction is not a complete solution as it can only work for large content owners. One could look at a copyright society or having a licensing mechanism.
Dwelling on the opportunities and challenges of UGC for traditional media, Chandra said traditional media companies can get feedback and have user engagement which is what NDTV Social enjoys. There is also citizen journalism where news channels get tip offs and photos from disasters. But the challenge lies in finding a business model, Chandra adds.
NDTV has a channel on YouTube and there is revenue sharing for ads. However if NDTV content is uploaded outside this channel, then there is leakage that happens.
Bhandari noted that new media devices like the mobile would get smaller and smarter in the coming 24 months, allowing for HD level video to come from phones. UGC sites could benefit from an open source model technologically, he added.
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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.
