‘America Tonight’ Gets Reprieve

CBS has changed its mind about canceling the nightly Charles Kuralt-Lesley Stahl news series “America Tonight” on Friday and replacing it with five action-adventure series.

Because of the Persian Gulf crisis, during which “America Tonight” originated, the series will continue at 11:30 p.m., pending resolution of developments in the Middle East, said Howard Stringer, president of the CBS Broadcast Group.

The action series, which were to have debuted Monday, have been postponed because of “the uncertainty in the Persian Gulf,” he said.

Ratings and station clearance for “America Tonight” have improved since the heightening of the U.S.-led United Nations showdown on Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

CBS, hoping to beef up its late-night ratings and avoid defection of its affiliate stations, was depending on the action shows and had planned to bring back “America Tonight” only as specials.