Having recently been pushed by Mr Malone into merging with Flextech, Liberty's European programming arm, Telewest is now expected to take on Chello's service, as a first outward sign of co-operation.
In Britain, says David Brennan, who heads research in the country for Flextech, a broadcaster, children in homes with cable or satellite television now spend two-thirds of their viewing time watching something other than the over-the-air networks, compared with just over one-third for adults.