Issues and Answers to expand to an hour

'Issues and Answers," the long-lived Sunday interview show, will be expanded to an hour this fall in an attempt to further strengthen ABC's news coverage, ABC News President Roone Arledge announced at the annual meeting of ABC affiliates.

According to Monitor TV critic Arthur Unger, the interview format will be kept, but in an expanded form much like the format the show used the Sunday morning of the recent space shuttle launching. There will be a permanent host, not yet announced and a changing group of panelists. ABC has alrea dy expanded its news coverage with the late-evening "Nightine" show, which will continue.