British Sky Broadcasting PLC of Britain and Canal
Plus SA are talking about a possible merger to create a Europe-wide
broadcasting service, The Wall Street Journal reported today.
The talks are at a preliminary stage, the newspaper said, citing
unidentified sources.
News Corp., Rupert Murdoch's company which owns 40 percent of
Sky, had no comment.
News Corp. also owns Fox News Online.
"Canal Plus has conversations with Murdoch's group, as they do
with other large audiovisual groups. These types of recurrent
discussions, routine conversations by Canal Plus with its partners
and competitors, do not call for any particular commentary," a
spokeswoman for Canal Plus in Paris said on condition of anonymity.
Sky, with 7 million subscribers, is the biggest pay-TV provider
in Britain.
Canal Plus has 11 million subscribers in 10 countries, making it
the largest pay-TV company in Europe. Vivendi SA owns 34 percent of
the company.
