The fifth entrant in a market which already has regional Doordarshan apart from Asianet, Surya and Kairali, Jeevan claims it will offer programmes that entertain while stressing the importance of moral values. Although the target of the channel is the family, soap operas will be conspicous by their absence. News and education shows will dominate the channel‘s programming. The channel will serve as a forum for issue based discussions on topics otherwise considered taboo, say reports.

Jeevan TV managing director P C Cyriac has been quoted by the Economic Times as saying that the channel would not accept surrogate advertisements of liquor. The channel will be telecast through the APR-1 satellite and will have a footprint which covers India, South East Asia, Australia, Middle East and Central Europe.

The announcement comes close on the heels of the resignations of Vivendi Universal chief executive Jean-Marie Messier and AOL Time Warner chief operating officer Robert Pittman earlier this month.

A report in a German newspaper indicated that Middelhoff would head the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom.

All the ingredients of success have been carefully measured out and weighed in the making of Kahin Naa Kahin Koi Hai, or K3H as the channel prefers to call it. Madhuri Dixit supplies not only the glamour attraction but also the credibility that a star who opted for a conventional arranged marriage could offer. That it will touch the lives of ordinary girls with the combined romance of a Dil To Pagal Hai and the traditional touch of a Hum Aapke Hain Kaun adds to the voyeuristic pleasure viewers can derive from this unique reality show.

Shooting a four days a week reality show on this scale has not been easy either, says director Leena Yadav. An entire day‘s interaction between the families and Madhuri, shot on an intricately designed set (Nitin Desai‘s handiwork) within a hotel is encapsulated into a half hour episode. Eight cameras capture the goings on as Madhuri chats, smiles and cajoles the participants into lively conversation. 44 episodes, covering 11 selected girls have already been canned and Yadav says she plans to include more "behind the scenes" coverage and improvise as the show gathers momentum. Already, with the promos beaming on Sony, the phone has not stopped ringing at UTV‘s office, where a team of nearly 250 is engaged in sorting, selecting and matching prospective couples. A few of the girls who have appeared on the show have already tied the knot, but UTV is not telling more.

The team has had its taxing moments too, when elements like dowry and horoscope edge in. "First, there was the traditional matchmaker, then classified ads, then ads on the Internet. We are simply pushing the envelope in matchmaking," says Mehta.

The show is being promoted conventionally - hoardings, radio spots, on air promos, print ads and ads on cable channels. "With a show which has Madhuri in it, we didn‘t really have to anything special to promote it," says a SET official.

It‘s over to Madhuri now.