Nir is the chief executive of Keshet, an Israeli broadcaster and production outfit that has attracted Hollywood's attention in the past year with its distinctive programs. CBS and 20th Century Fox TV have adapted Keshet's light drama "Mythological Ex" into "The Ex List," which landed a slot on the Eye's fall sked. Last fall, NBC fielded its version of Keshet's unscripted series "Phenomenon," featuring purported mentalist Uri Geller.

Keshet's top programming executive, Hagai Levy, created the innovative shrink-serial skein that begat HBO's "In Treatment," though Keshet did not wind up producing the Israeli version of the show.

Keshet, which means "rainbow" in Hebrew, might seem like an overnight sensation in Hollywood, but the company has been a player in its homeland for more than 15 years, ever since Israel opened up its state-dominated TV landscape to commercial channels. Today, Keshet is principally owned by Coca Cola Israel. Haim Saban owned 30% of the company until he was recently forced by regulators to divest his stake after he acquired Israel's major telephone provider, Israel Telecom.

Nir has a reputation as a savvy, ambitious CEO who is aggressively positioning Keshet to capitalize on the booming interest in the U.S. for foreign formats.

"Even though our primary market is Israel, one of the engines of all of our development is that we aim for the U.S. and other countries," Nir says. "It's important for us to look to the U.S. and Euro markets because the Israeli (media) market is limited. To grow, we need to be in the U.S. and Europe."

It was the originality of the "Mythological Ex" premise -- a thirtysomething woman is told by a psychic that she needs to find Mr. Right among her long list of previous boyfriends by year's end or she'll wind up alone forever -- that sold CBS Entertainment prexy Nina Tassler on the project.

Tassler committed to the show over the phone when it was first pitched to her by "Ex List" exec producer Jonathan Levin. Once Tassler saw Keshet's original production, she became more excited about the show's prospects. She was equally impressed by the company's approach to production and programming its network after meeting with Nir and other Keshet execs in Israel.

"We were so impressed that Avi and his whole organization had a sensibility about their shows that is very similar to ours," Tassler says. "I could understand what (Keshet execs) were saying in terms of their creative language, and how they approached storytelling and character development and marketing."

CBS also is developing an adaptation of a Keshet comedy, "What's This Bullshit," described as "Seinfeld" meets "Curb Your Enthusiasm" from the perspective of a young woman.

"Phenomenon" was a so-so performer for NBC last fall, but the real test of Keshet's export push with high-end scripted fare will come this fall with the perf of "Ex List" on CBS' Friday night lineup.

Nir gives much of the credit to the company's recent success in Hollywood to its association with the Endeavor talent agency. The support and encouragement of Endeavor's top brass, particularly agency partner Rick Rosen, gave Keshet execs the confidence their shows could find a home in the U.S. and other major markets, Nir says.

But as much as Keshet is focused on international growth, it all starts at home. Keshet programs four days a week on a commercial broadcast network known as Channel 2. It also owns a comedy-oriented cabler dubbed the Laughing Channel.

One of Nir's many goals for Keshet is for the broadcast net to consistently command a 40% share of Israel's primetime audience. To do that, Keshet has to develop shows with broad appeal and the ability to generate their own offline buzz. The company puts enormous emphasis on developing highly targeted marketing campaigns for its top shows in order to help drive word-of-mouth.

The company's biggest overall hit is "It's a Beautiful Country," a program Nir describes as "part sketch comedy, part 'The Daily Show.'�" It consistently draws about a 50% share of the aud, Nir says.

Another one of its most talked-about provocateurs is "Arab Work," a new comedy that looks at the foibles and prejudices of Israeli society through the eyes of a working-class Muslim family.

"I'm not sure it is adaptable for other countries, but it exemplifies our tendency to go for the unsafe areas on our shows," Nir says. "We need to provoke (discussion). We need to look at socially disruptive" aspects of Israeli life.

Given the ever-present threats to security posted by regional strife and terrorism in the Mideast, Keshet's push-the-envelope approach is daring, to say the least.

"We have had some very, very severe letters, but no actual violence," Nir says.

Keshet prides itself on the caliber of its development, though on the network side it also buys original fare from outside suppliers. The company has eschewed spending big for sports rights, Hollywood movie purchases or any foreign TV shows that are outright pickups. But Keshet has been successful with local adaptations of overseas hits. Nir proudly notes that Keshet was the first net to redo the Colombian telenovela hit "Betty La Fea," aka ABC's "Ugly Betty." Keshet also has put its own spin on "So You Think You Can Dance," "Wife Swap," "Supernanny" and "Hell's Kitchen."

Keshet dabbles in film production and financing, with the goal of providing programming for its network. Among the recent pics co-produced or co-financed by Keshet are "Beaufort," which was nommed for the foreign-language Oscar this year, "The Band's Visit" and "Meduzot."

Like most of Israel's top media concerns, Keshet has been experiencing a growth spurt, thanks to the relatively strong economy and the youthful, tech-savvy nature of its population. Nir has been CEO of Keshet for the past five years, but he has been with the company almost since its 1993 inception.

He did not, however, plan to be a TV mogul. He was teaching and working on his doctoral thesis at Tel Aviv U. about psychology and marketing at the time he began working as a consultant for Keshet when it was in startup mode. (Specifically, his dissertation probed the question of why some programs lend themselves to repeat viewing while others do not. "I've always been interested in the combination of art and quantitative things like economics and psychology," he explains.)

Nir thought he was on track to become a professor at Tel Aviv U. -- until he found that he loved the work he was doing in marketing and programming. He never did finish his doctorate.

Being part of the flowering of Israel's commercial TV sector has been a gratifying experience for Nir, and now he's eager to see Keshet and other Israeli firms begin to compete in the worldwide marketplace.

Nir was in Los Angeles a month ago with dozens of other foreign broadcasters for the annual L.A. Screenings event. He made a point of taking in one of 20th Century Fox's screenings of "Ex List." The experience was "full of emotion" for Nir as he saw how warmly buyers responded to the U.S. rendition, penned by "Veronica Mars" alumna Diane Ruggiero.

"I was most impressed at how (CBS and 20th) really picked up the essence of our show," Nir says. "They corrected some of the mistakes we made ... and they wound up with a cool show."