Regis vs. 'Survivor'

Will CBS’s “Survivor” become a big summer hit? Not if ABC has anything to do with it. In what is being labeled a surprise attack, ABC has suddenly programmed a broadcast of its ratings powerhouse “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” opposite tonight’s premiere of the televised survival test. On “Survivor,” eight women and eight men on a deserted tropical island vie to be the last survivor — for a prize of $1 million (think “Gilligan’s Island” meets “Brave New World”). Now the question remains as to how “Survivor” will fare tonight against Regis Philbin and “Millionaire.” “You would think that ABC could accept their victories and not have to go out and try to stop someone else from having a victory,” CBS TV president Leslie Moonves told The New York Times. Responded ABC Entertainment co-chairman Stu Bloomberg: “Why not do it? It’s a competition.”