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.
Buying family medical insurance online in India has become a common option for individuals who want to secure health coverage for multiple family members under a single policy. However, many buyers are unsure about the exact steps involved in selecting and purchasing the right plan online.
In this guide, you will know the step-by-step process of buying family medical insurance online in India, along with the key factors to review before purchasing a suitable policy.
Step 1: Assess Your Family’s Healthcare Needs
Before buying online health insurance, check the healthcare needs of all family members. Check age, existing illnesses, regular medicines, and the likely need for hospital care later. This helps in selecting a suitable sum insured, policy type, and level of cover. It also reduces the chance of buying a plan that appears suitable but does not meet actual medical needs.
Step 2: Visit the Insurance Company’s Official Website
After understanding the family’s needs, visit the insurer’s official website and read the plan details carefully. Use the official platform to review eligibility, policy wording, waiting periods, cover details, exclusions, and renewal terms.
This step gives a clearer understanding of how the policy works before payment is made. It also helps avoid confusion caused by incomplete summaries on other pages.
Step 3: Compare Available Family Health Insurance Plans
A family medical insurance policy should be compared on factors beyond the premium. Review the sum insured, hospital network, room rent limits, pre- and post-hospitalisation cover, daycare treatment coverage, and waiting periods. It is also important to check treatment sub-limits and specific policy conditions.
Careful comparison helps determine whether a plan provides balanced coverage and whether its terms are suitable for the healthcare needs of the entire family.
Step 4: Choose the Right Policy and Start the Online Purchase
Once the options have been compared, select the policy that best fits the family’s medical needs and budget. Before starting the application, review the covered members, policy term, benefits, and main conditions again. This is an important stage because errors here can lead to the wrong cover amount, an unsuitable variant, or missing details that create problems during policy use.
Step 5: Calculate the Premium Using an Online Calculator
Use the online premium calculator before making the final choice. Enter the correct details, including age, city, number of insured members, and selected cover amount. The result helps in understanding the expected premium and whether the policy fits the annual budget. This step is useful because it allows cost and coverage to be reviewed together, instead of choosing a plan only because the premium looks lower.
Step 6: Fill in Personal and Medical Details
When filling in the proposal form, provide accurate details for each insured member. This includes name, date of birth, contact details, medical history, ongoing treatment, and previous insurance information if required.
Every answer should be complete and truthful. Incorrect or missing details can create difficulty later. Before you submit the form, read every section again and correct any mistakes.
Step 7: Make Payment Through the Secure Payment Gateway
After checking the form, go to the payment page and complete the transaction through the secure payment gateway. Review the premium, policy term, and entered details once more before confirming payment.
After the transaction is completed, save the receipt, reference number, or confirmation message carefully. Keeping this record is useful if you need to track the purchase or follow up on policy issuance later.
Step 8: Download and Keep Your Policy Document Safely
Once the policy is issued, download the policy document, schedule, and any related papers without delay. Read them carefully to confirm member names, policy period, sum insured, and major terms. Save a digital copy in a secure folder and keep a printed copy if needed. Proper record keeping makes future renewals, document checks, and policy servicing easier and more organised when information is required quickly.
Conclusion
Buying health cover online becomes easier when you handle each step with attention. From checking your family’s needs to reading the final document, every stage helps you make an informed choice. A careful approach can reduce mistakes, improve your understanding of policy terms, and help you choose coverage that matches your household’s medical needs, financial capacity, and long-term healthcare planning in a reliable way for your family over the long term.
