MAM
ESPN Star Sports targets Rs 2 bn from India-England series
MUMBAI: Sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports (ESS) is eyeing ad revenue of Rs 2 billion from the India-England series.
The series, involving four Tests, five ODIs and two T20s, has been billed as “revenge” series by ESS hoping to cash in on the rivalry that will help it attract more eyeballs and the moolah as well.
Team India had faced severe drubbing when it had toured England last year. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team had to face a 4-0 whitewash in Tests while it had lost the 5-match ODI series by 3-0 by managing to tie one match. The Men in Blue had also lost the lone T20 match.
The sports broadcaster is banking on the Indian team’s track record of doing well in home conditions to deliver good viewership.
ESS is broadcasting the series as part of an understanding with sister concern and BCCI media rights partner Star India, which had acquired the BCCI rights for a whopping Rs 38.51 billion till 2018.
“We have sold out ad inventory for Test matches. Now we are focussing on ODIs and T20 matches,” ESPN Software India executive vice president and head of ad sales Sanjay Kailash tells Indiantelevision.com.
He evaded questions about ad revenue target set by the broadcaster. “We don’t share financial numbers,” Kailash said.
However, The Exchange Principal Partner Jai Lala feels that the sportscaster will have to settle for ad revenue between Rs 1.5 to Rs 1.75 billion. “I think Rs 2 billion is too high. They should do around Rs 1.5 to 1.75 billion,” Lala said.
Kailash feels that the Test series has done well as far as advertisement is concerned considering the fact that it comes after Diwali, a period when most of the advertisers exhaust a large chunk of their ad spends.
“Considering that the Test series is coming after Diwali there were apprehensions as to what kind of response it will get. However, we have managed to rope in eight sponsors for the Test series,” he added.
The eight sponsors for the Test matches include Tata DoCoMo and Havells as joint-presenting sponsors while Maruti Suzuki, Samsung, Perfetti, Nokia, ITC and Microsoft are associate sponsors.
Out of the eight sponsors, Nokia, Havells, Maruti Suzuki and Tata DoCoMo had signed deals for the entire cricket season till the Australia series in February next year. According to a report, ESS has already mopped up Rs 2.8 billion from the four ad deals.
Lala feels that the broadcaster’s decision to do advertising deals for the entire season has helped it de-risk itself from volatility.
The News Corp-owned broadcaster has already sold an estimated 50-60 per cent of the inventory for the T20 and ODI matches that will take place in January after the India-Pakistan series that is scheduled to take place from 25 December to 6 January.
The sportscaster is yet to close a deal for the upcoming India-Pakistan series, which is being sold separately and is not part of the deal done for the entire cricket season.
“The demand for T20s and ODIs will start building up after the first week of December. We already have four on board for the entire season,” Kailash asserted.
While Kailash refused to talk about numbers, Lala said that the sportscaster had sold ad inventory at Rs 60,000 per 10 second for Tests. For ODIs, ESS was looking at Rs 300,000 and for T20s the broadcaster was eyeing Rs 450,000.
Kailash also emphasised that ESS wants to attract more viewers towards Test cricket. A step in that direction was the sportscaster’s decision to have a dedicated Hindi feed on Star Cricket which will run parallel to English commentary on Star Sports.
“We want to attract more and more viewers to grow the franchise of Cricket. The idea is to broad base the sport even more and add more people to watching cricket and monetise it,” he noted.
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.
