TV & VIDEO - July 10, 1989

Newsman Ted Koppel hopes to return to ABC’s late-night “Nightline” program tonight, after being sidelined for nearly two weeks with a respiratory ailment that he apparently picked up while covering the recent unrest in China. Koppel reported from Beijing June 14-16, then stayed in China to prepare a prime-time special on the student uprising. After that program aired on June 27, he checked himself into a Hong Kong hospital, returning to the States July 1 and entering Georgetown University Hospital the next day for tests. He was suffering from tracheitis, an inflammation of the trachea. Koppel, 49, was released from the hospital last Tuesday in “good condition” and has been resting at home in Potomac, Md., since then. A spokesman for “Nightline” said his return would depend on how he felt over the weekend. Morton Dean will sub for Koppel if he does not return to the program tonight.