Poland’s leading private broadcaster Polsat has started negotiations with Canal Plus Polska to take a stake in TKP, the holding company for the latter’s digital platform, Cyfra Plus and the premium Canal Plus channel.

It is believed that discussions between the two groups focused initially on a 20 per cent stake in TKP. However, it now seems that Polsat may be looking to take as much as 28 per cent of the Canal Plus-backed company.

Meanwhile, another commercial channel, TVN, seems unlikely to be granted a place in the Canal Plus-backed Cyfra Plus digital package. Mariusz Walter, the owner of TVN, speaking at a conference of the country’s cable operators in Zakopane said: "I am not interested in participation in this package."

If Polsat owner Zygmunt Solorz succeeds in taking a significant stake in Canal Plus Polska, it is likely he will make his own thematic channels available on the Cyfra Plus platform. Polsat is currently trying to establish its own independent digital platform, Polsat 2 Cyfrowy, but the company is widely seen as lacking sufficient financial resources to launch such a venture on its own. If the Canal Plus purchase goes ahead, Polsat 2 Cyfrowy likely will become accessible to Polish viewers in Simulcrypt via the Seca terminals used by Cyfra Plus and via Sagem receivers in Nagravision. Polsat has been attempting to market its own Sagem receivers since its dispute over carriage terms with Canal Plus. Polsat has held out an offer of co-operation to TVN. If Polsat takes a stake in Cyfra Plus, TVN will be automatically available as part of this package.

The Polish regulator, the KRRiT, is watching developments with interest. Juliusz Braun, KRRiT president said: "It is very difficult to comment on something that does not exist. I think that Polsat and TVN want to [take stakes in] not Canal Plus but in Cyfra Plus. At the moment no one knows what is gossip, what is truth, and what is purposeful misinformation. That’s why we have to wait [to see] the contract signed. Canal Plus has [a] Polish [licence] and any participation changes or sale demand KRRiT notification or even its agreement." He said that if ownership changes in Canal Plus involved an infusion of Polish capital, this would be good news for the Polish digital market.

Braun pointed out that the public broadcaster TVP already had moved to take a significant interest in Cyfra Plus: "If Polsat and TVN will join the platform, then such a group of Polish programmes has a good [opportunity]." He said that the ultimate likely outcome of such a development would be the creation of a single unified Polish digital platform. "All television stations are sure that in the Polish market [there] is only [a] place for the one digital package but no one of them wants to retreat, so both [platforms] are still working," he said.

TVP’s plans to take initially a 10 per cent stake in Cyfra Plus (later to rise to 40 per cent) is still being held up by a court action initiated by TVP’s paymaster, the ministry of finance, which has not agreed to the public broadcaster taking a stake in a commercial company.

Polsat’s Solorz has previously indicated that he might seek a public listing for Polsat or seek a new partner to fund the company’s growth. Solorz is likely to fear a link-up between the two main rival Polish digital offerings, Cyfra Plus and the United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC)-owned Wizja TV. UPC’s acquisition of the Wizja TV’s owner, @Entertainment, which as an independent company had an extremely fractious relationship with Canal Plus, but UPC has indicated that it is more open about the idea of a merger between the two digital platforms.