TURNER-NBC . . . ALL BETS ARE OFF

The NBC peacock is safe from plucking -- for now. Sunday, Turner Network Television (TNT), the Atlanta-based brainchild of cable tycoon Ted Turner, announced it had called off merger talks with NBC's parent, General Electric. The deal-breaker: Turner reportedly had wanted at least 51 percent control of the merged entity, but so did GE chairman Jack Welch. As a TNT spokesman said: "We were talking at different ends of the room." Turner had made no secret in recent months of his desire to add a broadcast network to his cable empire. His decision to drop the NBC bid has revived speculation that he'll make a run at Capital Cities/ABC or -- for the second time -- at CBS.