BUT IT'S NOT OVER YET

Economics correspondent Suneel Ratan reports that there are also a few regulatory hurdles for Levin to surmount: "The deal will have to gain two sets of clearances -- and any problems encountered likely will be a consequence of the arrangement's giving Malone a significant minority interest in the merged entity. One is from antitrust regulators. The second is from the Federal Communications Commission, which would determine if the deal conforms to a maze of rules." Clearing the federal hurdles, Ratan says, could take up to a year.