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Videocon d2h widens offering to 266 channels
MUMBAI: Videocon d2h, the last entrant in the fiercely competitive six-player Indian direct-to-home (DTH) market, has claimed that it is offering the maximum number of channels provided by any DTH operator in India.
Videocon d2h is offering 266 channels, including regional language channels in Marathi, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil.
Videocon Group director Saurabh Dhoot said, “We are currently having 266 channels and services on our platform which is the highest in the DTH industry as we believe in delivering the best for our customers. Regional viewing preferences are very important for us and we ensure every effort to provide more content for customers from different regions with entertainment suiting their needs.”
Videocon d2h is providing 10 channels in Marathi, 19 channels in Tamil, 18 in Telugu, 14 in Malayalam, 13 in Kannada, 13 in Bengali, six in Oriya and seven in Punjabi.
“We are the only platform which is providing such a large variety of channels to choose from. We also have five channels for our customers from North East,” added Dhoot.
Videocon d2h has also launched Planet M Music Space. It also has 22 exclusive channels (including two video channels), designed to target customers’ needs for music.
The DTH player has also introduced a new Active Bhakti music video channel and two regional devotional audio channels in Marathi and Bengali under its Active Music Space platform.
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.
