In a move that comes quicker than expected, Canal Plus and UPC have agreed to merge their pay-TV platforms in Poland (Screendaily Aug 12).

Only four months after the ceasing of hostilities between former rivals Cyrfa+ and Wizja TV, the two parent companies have decided to go ahead with a merger that gives Canal Plus (the film and TV division of Vivendi Universal) 75% of the new company.

The new joint platform will launch in the first quarter of 2002 with some 700,000 subscribers and is now predicted to move quickly into profit.

The companies said that the merger agreement was achieved ahead of schedule thanks to close co-operation with the Polish competition authorities, which approved the deal on Nov 13.