FRENCH FIRM EYES POLYGRAM.

Byline: Jacqueline Simmons Bloomberg News

Canal Plus SA, Europe's largest pay-television operator, said it would consider bidding for the film unit of PolyGram NV, adding the producer of ``Four Weddings and a Funeral'' to its own film activities.

Canada's Seagram Co. is expected to buy Polygram, the world's largest record company and owner of Universal Studios, as early as this week, a person familiar with the negotiations said.

European film producers are concerned the film industry is becoming increasingly dominated by the U.S. If Seagram buys PolyGram, that means PolyGram's film division could become part of Universal City-based Universal Studios, giving the United States even more dominance in the industry, Canal Plus said. An acquisition by Canal Plus would boost the French company's growing international film business.

``Anything that can prevent PolyGram films from falling under American control is worth backing,'' Canal Plus Chief Executive Pierre Lescure said in French business daily Les Echos. ``We are ready to study a European solution if there is the opportunity for a separate sale.''

Canal Plus said it would consider bidding for the unit with partners, such as PolyGram Chief Executive Alain Levy, who, according to Les Echos, also wants to buy the division. German media company Kirch Group and French filmmaker Pathe SA were cited by The Times of London as other possible bidders.