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Vod users in the US tuning in to reality shows: Study
MUMBAI: US market research firm Scarborough Research, which works in the area of identifying the shopping, media and lifestyle patterns of Americans, has released an analysis of video-on-demand (VOD) users – those consumers who live in households that used VOD during the past month.
The analysis found that VOD users are 27 per cent more likely than all consumers to cite reality programmes as a television genre that they typically watch.
Across America seven per cent of consumers live in a household that used VOD during the past month. VOD users are 24 per cent more likely to tune in to music videos. 22 per cent more likely than all consumers to watch news magazine shows, science fiction (21 per cent more likely) and dramas (18 per cent more likely), round out the top television genres among VOD users as compared to the general population.
Today‘s VOD users hail from upscale, young families. According to the Scarborough analysis, VOD users are 27 per cent more likely than all consumers to be between the ages 18-24; 20 per cent more likely to have two or more children in the household; and more than twice as likely as all consumers to have an annual household income of more than $150,000. VOD users are 27 per cent more likely than all consumers to be African-American.
VOD users are avid consumers of entertainment and information technologies. VOD users are 50 per cent more likely than all consumers to spend 20 or more hours online weekly. They have high-speed Internet connections, and are more likely than all consumers to have a cable modem, DSL or wireless Internet connection. VOD users are 38 per cent more likely than all consumers nationally to have purchased something on the Internet in the past year. 39 per cent of VOD users use online services for travel reservations and 47 per cent of VOD users use on-line services for news. VOD users are almost three times as likely as all consumers to have purchased pay-per-view (PPV) five or more times during the past year.
When it comes to advertising categories, home improvement is a top category among VOD users. 73 per cent of VOD users live in a household that has bought hardware, building, paint, or lawn and garden items in the past year. They are 15 per cent more likely than all consumers across the US to have spent $3,000 or more on all home improvements in the past year.
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.
