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WWIL gains on carriage income, plans acquisitions
MUMBAI: Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd has narrowed its first-quarter net loss as revenue has jumped 10 per cent with a gain in carriage earnings from broadcasters.
A revival in Hyderbad and an entry into new markets through buyouts and joint ventures will shore up the multi-system operator‘s revenues in the second quarter, a senior executive at WWIL said on condition of anonymity.
The multi-system operator (MSO) is planning to get into Varanasi, Asansol, Bilaspur and Bhubaneswar.
“We expect a 10 per cent growth in revenue from the trailing quarter. The fourth-quarter growth should be higher as the acquisitions gain some maturity,” the executive added.
WWIL has posted an operating consolidated revenue of Rs 692.46 million for the three months to 30 June, up from Rs 630.06 million.
“Carriage has contributed to 55 per cent of our overall revenues. This formed 51 per cent of our revenue component in the year-ago quarter,” the official said.
WWIL‘s consolidated net loss stood at Rs 233.91 million for the quarter ended June 2010, narrowing from the earlier year‘s Rs 477.69 million.
The company, in fact, has turned Ebitda positive compared to the year-ago period. Ebitda for the quarter under review stood at Rs 74 million, from a Rs 100 million loss in the first quarter of FY‘10.
“We have arrested our expenses. Unlike the previous year, there is no expenditure incurred on Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) during the quarter. The content cost has also come down. Our expenses fell 14.77 per cent,” said the official.
Expenses in the quarter stood at Rs 782.84 million, down from Rs 918.48 million a year ago.
On standalone basis, WWIL‘s net loss for the quarter stood at Rs 204.65 million (against Rs 464.72 million in Q1 FY‘10). Revenue increased to Rs 497.50 million (from Rs 471.78 million), while expenses were at Rs 569.13 million compared to Rs 753.58 million in the earlier year.
WWIL has seeded 300,000 digital boxes and expects to add a similar amount during the fiscal.
WWIL promoters pledged 34.62 million shares, or 13.18 per cent stake, according to information provided by the company till 30 June 2010.
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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.
