ld health problem that is profoundly influenced by mothers' smoking," he told Reuters Health, "and it focuses our attention more than previous studies have on it resulting in surgical procedures for children." Taken together, the studies showed that kids living with a smoker had a 37 percent higher risk of any "middle ear disease," including ear infections and hearing problems—and a 62 percent higher risk if the household smoker was their mom. When mothers smoked, kids were also 86 percent more likely to get surgery for a middle ear condition, including recurrent ear infections, than if no smokers were in the house. About three out of four kids have had an ear infection by the time they are three years old. Dr. Joseph DiFranza, a tobacco researcher from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, said that increased risk of surgery—which now usually involves putting a tube in the ear to drain out fluid, is especially worrisome. "Ear infections themselves are very common, but the surgery is not," he told Reuters Health. Experts speculate that exposure to secondhand smoke may cause tubes in the ear to get inflamed and block up. Water could then leak into an empty pocket behind the ear drum, creating an ideal environment for bacteria to grow and cause infection. "There are going to be kids who live in families with smokers who don't get ear infections," said Kathleen Daly, who studies ear infections at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. But living with a smoker "definitely puts the child at higher risk," she told Reuters Health. The review's authors, led by Laura Jones of the University of Noanies said in a joint statement. Bollore's TV arm is worth a total of EUR465 million, according to the statement. Bollore will be paid in Vivendi shares and hand over management and control of the two channels to Canal Plus. Bollore will hold the remaining 40% in its TV business for three years, when it can trigger an option to sell to Canal Plus. The deal offers Canal Plus the opportunity to bulk up ahead of the arrival of online pay-on-demand competitors. "This partnership is intended to prepare the Canal Plus Group for the arrival in the television sector of new operators such as Apple, Netflix, Google," Canal Plus Chairman Bertrand Meheut said in a statement. It also gives the group a gateway to access ads broadcast on free-to-air channels. Canal Plus, which also creates movies and TV series, is primarily available on subscription. It can now use its content to lure viewers and ad dollars away from free-to-air competitors including TF1 and M6, analysts said. Earlier this year, Meheut said he wanted to launch a free-to-air channel. However, the plan hung on the French government awarding two free "bonus channels" to M6 and TF1 to compensate for the move from analogue to digital TV. The plan was challenged by European Union regulators, who saw it as a potential violation of competition rules. As a result, Meheut's initial plan could have been bogged down for some time by regulatory wrangling. For Bollore, a conglomerate whose interests include shipping and electric car batteries, the