Regis Philbin beat Mike Wallace in the first head-to-head battle between "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "60 Minutes."

Meanwhile, ABC and NBC finished in a dead heat for last week's prime-time Nielsen Media Research ratings crown, for a period that encompassed the first four days of the important May ratings sweeps.

ABC aired the indefatigable "Millionaire" Sunday at 7 p.m. opposite the long-running CBS newsmagazine. The "Millionaire" audience of 19.2 million was well below its season average of 28 million. But "60 Minutes" had only 11.7 million viewers, a sharp drop from its season average of more than 17 million.

The first part of ABC's "Arabian Nights" miniseries had about a million more viewers Sunday than CBS' competing movie on John Denver. NBC's airing of "The ***'70s" proved far less popular than last year's miniseries based on the 1960s, finishing third behind the ABC and CBS movies.

NBC challenged ABC's dominance based on its strong Thursday night lineup, particularly the top-rated "ER" and "Friends," where actor Bruce Willis began a brief guest stint.

For the week, ABC and NBC had identical 8.9 ratings and 15 audience shares. NBC had a slightly higher number of households tuned in, but ABC's average prime-time viewership of 13.2 million beat NBC's 12.4 million.

CBS had an average of 11 million viewers (7.7 rating, 13 share), Fox had 8 million viewers (5.4 rating, 9 share), UPN had 4 million viewers (2.7, 5), the WB had 3.4 million (2.6, 4) and Pax TV had 1.2 million (0.9, 1).

ABC's "World News Tonight" drew 9.5 million viewers last week (7.2 rating, 16 share). NBC's "Nightly News" had 9.3 million viewers (7.2, 16) and the "CBS Evening News" had 7.7 million viewers (6, 13).

A rating point represents 1,008,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 100.8 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use TVs tuned to a given show.

Here are the prime-time ratings as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for April 24-30:

1. "ER," NBC.
2. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," ABC.
3. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," ABC.
4. "Friends," NBC.
5. "Frasier," NBC.
6. "Frasier," NBC.
6. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," ABC.
8. "Just Shoot Me," NBC.
9. "Law & Order," NBC.
10. "Touched by an Angel," CBS.
11. "The Practice," ABC.
12. "CBS Sunday Movie: Take Me Home: The John Denver Story."
13. "ABC Premiere Event: Arabian Nights-Part 1."
14. "ABC Monday Night Movie: Three Stooges."
15. "Dateline NBC" (Friday).
15. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS.
15. "The West Wing," NBC.
18. "Becker," CBS.
18. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC.
18. "Providence," NBC.
21. "NYPD Blue," ABC.
22. "Dharma & Greg," ABC.
22. "JAG," CBS.
24. "60 Minutes II," CBS.
25. "20/20-Downtown," ABC.
25. "Dateline NBC" (Tuesday).
27. "60 Minutes," CBS.
27. "Diagnosis Murder," CBS.
29. "Dateline NBC" (Wednesday).
30. "NBC Sunday Night Movie: The 70's."
31. "Dateline NBC" (Monday).
31. "Judging Amy," CBS.
33. "20/20" (Wednesday), ABC.
33. "The Drew Carey Show," ABC.
33. "Malcolm in the Middle," Fox.
36. "Once and Again," ABC.
37. "Will & Grace," NBC.
38. "CBS Wednesday Movie: Miracle on the Mountain."
38. "Family Law," CBS.
38. "Just Shoot Me," NBC.
38. "Spin City," ABC.
38. "Third Watch," NBC.
38. "Twenty-One," NBC.
44. "The X-Files," Fox.
45. "20/20" (Friday), ABC.
46. "The Simpsons," Fox.
47. "Walker, Texas Ranger," CBS.
48. "Nash Bridges," CBS.
49. "Whose Line is it Anyway?," ABC.
50. "King Of Queens," CBS.
51. "Chicago Hope," CBS.
51. "Ladies Man," CBS.
51. "Talk to Me," ABC.
54. "Cops 2: Fort Worth," Fox.
55. "Kids Say the Darndest Things," CBS.
56. "America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back," Fox.
57. "Beverly Hills, 90210," Fox.
57. "Two Guys and a Girl," ABC.
59. "Greed," Fox.
60. "ABC Saturday Night Movie: The Peacemaker."
60. "Martial Law," CBS.
62. "Ally McBeal," Fox.
62. "Profiler," NBC.
64. "48 Hours," CBS.
64. "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," ABC.
64. "WWF Smackdown!," UPN.
67. "Copperfield: Great Escapes," CBS.
67. "Dateline NBC" (Sunday).
69. "Cosby," CBS.
69. "Greed," Fox.
69. "Whose Line is it Anyway?," ABC.
72. "Cops: Albuquerque," Fox.
72. "Frasier," NBC.
74. "Early Edition," CBS.
74. "Ghosts: Best Evidence Caught on Tape," Fox.
74. "Now and Again," CBS.
74. "That ***'70s Show," Fox.
78. "Then Came You," ABC.
79. "King of the Hill," Fox.
80. "Party of Five," Fox.
80. "That ***'70s Show," Fox.
82. "3rd Rock from the Sun," NBC.
82. "Boy Meets World," ABC.
82. "The Pretender," NBC.
85. "Titus," Fox.
86. "Family Guy," Fox.
86. "The Hughleys," ABC.
86. "UFOs: Best Evidence Caught on Tape," Fox.
89. "The Others," NBC.
90. "Making the Band," ABC.
91. "World's Wildest Police Videos," Fox.
92. "7th Heaven," WB.
92. "Charmed," WB.
92. "Futurama," Fox.
95. "Angel," WB.
95. "Star Trek: Voyager," UPN.
97. "Dawson's Creek," WB.
98. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," WB.
98. "For Your Love," WB.
100. "Roswell," WB.
100. "The Steve Harvey Show," WB.
102. "Felicity," WB.
103. "7 Days," UPN.
103. "The Parkers," UPN.
105. "Charmed," WB.
106. "7th Heaven Beginnings," WB.
106. "Moesha," UPN.
106. "Moesha," UPN.
106. "The Parkers," UPN.
110. "Popular," WB.
110. "WWF's Greatest Hits Too," UPN.
112. "Grown Ups," UPN.
112. "Steve Harvey Show," WB.
114. "Jamie Foxx Show," WB.
114. "Malcolm & Eddie," UPN.
114. "Movie Stars," WB.
117. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax, 1.6
118. "Zoe," WB.
119. "I Dare You!," UPN.
120. "The Beat," UPN.
120. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.
122. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.
122. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.
122. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
122. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
126. "Solomon Part 1," Pax.
126. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
126. "Twenty-One," Pax.
129. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.
129. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
131. "It's A Miracle," Pax.
131. "It's A Miracle," Pax.
133. "Pax TV Three-Hanky Movie: Missing Children: A Mother's Story."
133. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
135. "It's A Miracle," Pax.
135. "Jack Hanna-Totally Wild," Pax.
137. "Chicken Soup for the Soul," Pax.
137. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
137. "Twice In A Lifetime," Pax.

Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS