LOS ANGELES (AP) - A wrestling match over UPN ended Monday with Chris-Craft Industries Inc. agreeing to sell its half-interest in the television network to partner Viacom for $5 million after losing a round in court last week.

Sumner Redstone, Viacom chairman and chief executive officer, said he was pleased UPN will be a wholly owned subsidiary of "the Viacom family," which includes MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Blockbuster and the Paramount movie studio.

Viacom and CBS, which announced a deal to merge last fall, already have requested a Federal Communications Commission waiver of the prohibition on one company owning two TV networks.

Viacom had to abide by Chris-Craft's decision; Monday was the deadline.

"While we were disappointed with the court's decision, we believe that UPN and our shareholders will now best be served by ending any further uncertainty through our sale to Viacom," said William D. Siegel, president and chief operating officer of Chris-Craft subsidiary BHC Communications Inc.

BHC, which owns 10 television stations in major markets, including eight UPN affiliates, will continue its support of the network as its anchor affiliate group, Siegel said.

"It's too soon to tell what kind of changes the viewers might see. I don't anticipate much of a deviation in their programming strategy, which has been targeting young males," said Katherine Styponias of Prudential Securities.

The switch to one owner should be a bonus.

"It's been widely reported that the relationship between Chris-Craft and Viacom had not been going very well," Styponias said. "At a minimum, having just one entity in charge has got to simplify things in terms of managing it."

The struggle over UPN focused on a clause in the partnership agreement stipulating that neither partner could own an interest in another network. Chris-Craft argued Viacom violated the deal by agreeing to merge with CBS, but the court sided with Viacom's argument that it has not broken the terms since the CBS deal has not closed.

Viacom triggered the "buy-sell" section of the UPN partnership agreement six weeks ago after becoming frustrated with its negotiations with Chris-Craft over the network's future.

UPN has enjoyed a ratings revival with its World Wrestling Federation shows, boosting average viewership from about 2 million homes last season to about 2.7 million this season. But the network has yet to turn a profit, losing more than $800 million since its founding in 1994.

Viacom has said it believes it can make UPN profitable, especially once it completes its merger with CBS and draws on management talent there.

Prudential's Styponias, who estimated UPN will break even in 2003, said Chris-Craft apparently couldn't find a partner to help it retain and run the network.

"It speaks to the argument that there are a limited number of entities out there that are willing to shoulder the losses of a network going on the air. There could have been a risk of the network going off the air if it was sold," she said.

Analyst Larry Gerbrandt of Paul Kagan Associates in Carmel, Calif., said there's a better than 50-50 chance the FCC will allow two-network ownership by the new CBS-Viacom company.

Radical market changes, including an explosion of cable and broadcast outlets, have occurred since the one-network rule was implemented, he said. But if ownership of UPN threatened the merger, Viacom "absolutely" would sell it, Gerbrandt said.