NOT QUITE A DONE DEAL

Time Warner is still moving toward an agreement to buy Turner Broadcasting, but negotiators expect to take several days to resolve last-minute issues. It might be longer, reports business writer Barbara Rudolph, if cable mogul and key Turner board member John Malone doesn't like the way $8.5 billion media merger develops. "Malone's Telecommunications Inc. is a rival of Time Warner. Malone can either make this deal or prevent it from happening." If or when the deal gels, she adds, "it's not clear whether all those egos (Malone, Time Warner Chairman Gerald Levin and Ted Turner himself) can live together." Levin's motive? "Although the price is high, Time Warner will gain a strong cash flow, unique programming opportunities and the ability to package that programming internationally."