MAM
DID Lil Masters supercharges Zee TV to Hindi GEC leadership
MUMBAI: There‘s a lot of pomp and revelry going on at India‘s oldest Hindi general entertainment channel. And with reason: even as it gears up to celebrate its 20th anniversary in October this year, Zee TV, has vroomed to the front of the Hindi GEC weekly run, leaving behind its arch rival Star Plus in week 33 (ending 18 August) of 2012. What gave it the additional kick to race ahead of its rivals was the incredible 8 TVR that its flagship dancing reality show ‘DID lil Masters season 2’ generated.
As per TAM data (C&S, HSM, 4+) provided by Hindi GECs, Zee TV notched up 283 GRPs (last week 247 GRPs), with the DID Lil Masters 2 finale (which aired for three-and-a-half hours on 12 August) fetching around 56 GRPs. What also contributed good numbers were its mythological show ‘Ramayan’ that debuted with a 2.7 TVR and its ‘Gold Awards’ that recorded 3 TVR.
DID lil Masters-2 opened its current season with a 5.8 TVR and rated 3.5+ TVR on an average throughout.
Zee TV non-fiction head Ashish Golwalkar said, “DID lil Masters is the biggest franchise we have. The story has a heavy storytelling of how a common man becomes big. There wasn’t any drastic difference in this season as compared to the last season but we did try some small innovations that worked wonders for us and were well accepted by the audiences.”
According to Golwalkar, ‘DID lil Masters 2’ promoted a healthy lifestyle for kids which was structured as a part of the content. “This helped us attract more family viewing. Parents thought it was good and they have seen changes in the eating habits of their kids because of the show. This season, we also had presence of Mithun Chakraborty throughout. Last year, he was on the show only for few episodes,” he added. The channel had also introduced muppets in the show to attract eyeballs.
Advertising industry professionals point out that Zee TV is a channel to watch out for. “It has been doing fairly well since past 4-6 months with the launch of new properties. The channel is investing in its programming and trying to deliver good content,” Zenith Optimedia SVP Navin Khemka said.
There have been dancing properties like Just Dance (Star Plus) and Chakk Dhoom Dhoom (Colors) but they weren’t able to reach heights that DID lil Masters managed to reach. “I believe more established properties like DID lil Masters tend to deliver more numbers as compared to newer properties. The channels should understand that a ‘me-too’ property won’t work,” Khemka added.
“The channel has achieved the No. 1 spot; it‘s great but it would be a challenge to retain the position. For this, Zee TV‘s fiction programming has to perform more strongly. Also, any channel‘s success depends on what the others are airing,” a media expert said on condition of anonymity.
What makes Zee TV‘s achievement laudatory is the fact that it has dislodged Star Plus from the pole position it has held on to for over two years. The last time, Star Plus moved to the No 2 spot was when Colors had registered two more GRPs in May 2010.
Last week, Star Plus lost around 15 GRPs ending with 255 GRPs. ‘Arjun’, which debuted with 2.3 TVR last week, fell to 1.3 TVR while ‘Lakhon Me Ek’ rated 0.7 TVR.
Meanwhile, Colors has grabbed the No.3 spot in the GEC ladder on the back of improved ratings of shows like Jhalak Dikhlaja that rated 3.3 TVR (last week 2.6 TVR) and Balika Vadhu that clocked 4.4 TVR (last week 4 TVR). The channel added 21 GRPs to end the week with 238 GRPs.
Sony Entertainment Television (Set) lost 11 GRPs to clock 214 GRPs even as its crime-base properties like Adaalat (1.7 TVR), C.I.D (3.4 TVR), Crime Patrol (3.4 TVR) and Indian Idol-6 (1.8 TVR) yielded ground.
Life OK at No.5 added six GRPs to close the week with 134 GRPs. The Mahadev-Parvati Vivah special episode on the channel clocked 4.6 TVR.
Sab, the second GEC from Sony Entertainment Network, added five GRPs to its last week’s tally and registered 133 GRPs.
Sahara One with 35 GRPs (last week 33) remains at the bottom of the ladder.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI: Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
