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Valerio Zingarelli is Babelgum CEO
MUMBAI: Babelgum, the new generation global Internet TV network, has announced that former Vodafone global director of networks and service platforms, Valerio Zingarelli, has been appointed CEO. Zingarelli takes over the operational responsibilities of co-founder Erik Lumer who will now turn his focus to strategic product development. Beyond the completion and refinement of the technical platform, Zingarelli will lead Babelgum into the next phase of launch as a new global media platform aimed at delivering targeted content to sharply profiled viewer groups everywhere in the world. This goal requires a complex international organisation, new resources and additional skills. The explicit goal that Babelgum has defined is to grow its employee base to approximately 100 by the end of the year. Babelgum chairman and co-founder Silvio Scaglia said, “We are now moving to phase two in the development of Babelgum. The core technology has been proven and whilst our focus right now is on bringing together compelling content, we will soon turn to user acquisition and advertising. Valerio’s appointment is a reflection of that changing focus”. Over the next nine to 12 months the company will concentrate on the following sequential priorities: 2) With an extensive library of content available, Babelgum will initiate a marketing campaign aimed at launching first to English-speaking viewers around the globe. 3) Once both content and viewers are in place, Babelgum will address the advertising market to build the revenue stream. Scaglia adds, “I have known Valerio since 1995 when, as Chief Technology Officer of Omnitel, he built what is still considered by many to be the best mobile network in Europe. He was instrumental in developing an organisation that grew from nothing to a staff of 1000 serving millions of customers. His knowledge and first hand experience in managing the technical and operational demands of rapid and sustained growth are exactly what we now require at Babelgum.” Zingarelli says, “I can’t think of a more exciting sector to be involved in at the moment. Babelgum is right at the heart of a revolution in television, building a truly personal global media capable of delivering a huge amount of professional television quality content to millions of users around the world. It’s a new kind of distribution that is uniquely suited to satisfying individual passions and interests through the innovative Smart Channels concept – channels defined individually by users”.
1) Building a sufficient quantity of professional content to offer viewers enough variety and choice to satisfy individual passions and interests. This target will be achieved through direct acquisition of content and automatic upload by independent content owners.
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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.
