NEXT SEASON’S RETURN UNCERTAIN : CBS’ ‘WEST 57TH’ TO STAY IN PRODUCTION

CBS, ending weeks of speculation over the fate of its flashy new “West 57th” news magazine, said Thursday it will keep the series in production. But it made no promises that the program definitely would return to the air next season.

“West 57th,” which completed its 13-week spring-summer run on Wednesday, will resume production and be available as a possible mid-season replacement should an opening occur on CBS’ prime-time schedule next season, a spokesman said.

He said that the series’ four reporters--Jane Wallace, Meredith Vieira, John Ferrugia and Bob Sirott--would continue with the program, as would its executive producer, Andrew Lack.

(This seemed to remove Wallace from the running to be co-anchor of the soon-to-be-revamped-again “CBS Morning News,” a perennial third in the morning-show ratings race. Wallace had been mentioned in some reports as a possible successor to Maria Shriver who, with co-anchor Forrest Sawyer, probably won’t be the program’s anchor team when its new version premieres in September.)

“West 57th,” whose latest run began on April 30, had a six-week tryout late last summer and then, by previous plan, was taken off CBS’ schedule. The move was not due to the modest ratings it had gotten, CBS said at that time.

Beginning news series tend to get lower ratings than entertainment shows. Still, there had been rumors that the network would put “West 57th” back on its schedule in March. But CBS, trying to ward off resurgent NBC and win its seventh consecutive season in prime-time ratings, kept the program off the air until after the season ended on April 20.

That decision didn’t help. NBC won the 30-week ratings race, with CBS coming in second and ABC a distant third.

The decision to continue production of “West 57”--the title refers to the Manhattan street where CBS News has its offices--was announced in a prepared statement by CBS Broadcast Group president Gene F. Jankowski.

The program, he said, “has clearly earned its place. It is editorially sound, has a vibrant style all its own, and has built audience steadily in its just-completed run.”