irca 2000: A channel called STAR Plus is doing just about all right at the No 3 position, behind Zee TV and Sony Entertainment Television. Rupert Murdoch�s STAR network in India has just been released from a non-compete clause with its partner, Subhas Chandra: under the agreement, ZEE would not venture into English programming and STAR would stay out of Hindi. The News Corp company in India desperately needs a Big One that will launch it into mainline Hindi programming.

So, what does it do? It ropes in an over-the-hill actor and failed entrepreneur called Amitabh Bachchan and introduces a reality show called Kaun Banega Crorepati, an adapted version of the immensely popular �Who wants to be a millionaire?� The show breaks all C&S; viewership records, changes television viewing habits and propels the channel to the No.1 position. KBC closes with a promise to return�... more