AUCTIONS

From Under a Bed . . . : A draft of four string quartets by Franz Joseph Haydn, kept under a bed by an Australian woman, fetched a record $1.04 million at Sotheby’s in London. The working draft for the String Quartets, Opus 50, Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6, published in 1787, was bought by a German antiquarian book dealer. Scholars thought it was lost until the woman showed it to experts at a Haydn festival in 1982 and then put it in a bank vault. Sotheby’s said the previous highest price paid for a manuscript by the 18th-Century composer was $219,800 in 1993 for six pages of Haydn’s unfinished last quartet.

TELEVISION

Jolly Good Visit: David Letterman and his producers are pleased with the ratings from last week’s May sweeps trip to London, which are likely to be their highest ratings in the past two months. “We did well doing the things we like to do,” said the show’s executive producer Robert Morton, who booked author-in-hiding Salman Rushdie for a surprise appearance Friday night. “When the ratings are down, there’s a temptation to do things you’re not comfortable with. We were offered Kato Kaelin recently, and we decided we did not want to have him on our show.”

World History: The 10-hour documentary “Lost Civilizations,” inspired by the Time Life Books set, will premiere June 27 as a weekly summer series on NBC. Sam Waterston hosts the study of 10 great civilizations, including the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Mayans. Meanwhile, CBS announced airdates for the remainder of Kevin Costner’s Native American miniseries, “500 Nations.” The first two parts of the eight-hour epic aired in April. Parts 3 and 4 will air Saturday and Sunday.

Country Women: The next “In Performance at the White House” will be devoted to “Women of Country” and feature Grammy winners Kathy Mattea, Suzy Bogguss and Alison Krauss & Union Station. The hour long program, which airs Sept. 27 on PBS, was taped last week before an invited audience on the White House’s South Lawn. Chet Atkins was the host.

AWARDS

The Kid Vote: America’s kids love Jim Carrey, Rosie O’Donnell and “Home Improvement.” Carrey was named favorite male movie actor for his role in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” at Saturday night’s 8th annual Kids’ Choice Awards, sponsored by cable’s Nickelodeon. O’Donnell was honored as favorite female movie actor for “The Flint-stones.” The kids’ favorite TV show was “Home Improvement,” and the show’s star, Tim Allen, was named favorite male TV star. Tia and Tamera Mowry from “Sister, Sister” shared the favorite female TV star award. “The Lion King” won for favorite movie. Whitney Houston was host of the awards ceremony that was televised from a hangar at the Santa Monica Airport; 2,000 kids attended. The show will be rebroadcast on the network Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Iconography: Sylvester Stallone will officially become an icon when he receives the icon award at the first annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards on June 3 at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. The award recognizes Stallone’s status as the top-grossing action/adventure star in film history. The awards show, honoring performers in movies, home videos and music, will be taped to air June 6 on CBS at 9 p.m.

They Write the Songs: Academy Award-winning lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman will be honored tonight at a gala celebration for the L.A. Music Center’s 30th anniversary. The couple’s songs--including “The Way We Were,” “The Windmills of Your Mind” and “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life”--will be performed by Rosemary Clooney, Goldie Hawn, Joanna Gleason, Melissa Manchester and James Ingram among other celebrities.

RADIO

Dwight’s Night: An intimate concert featuring country star Dwight Yoakam, performing for about 40 people in a Hollywood studio, will air live on radio station KZLA (93.9 FM) tonight at 7. The show, hosted by the station’s Shawn Parr, will also air across the country on affiliates of the SJS Entertainment Radio Network. Yoakam’s new release, “Dwight Live,” is due out today.

QUICK TAKES

The newest lifeguard on the “Baywatch” team is Gena Lee Nolin, 23, who has been working for the past year as a model on “The Price Is Right.” She’ll join the syndicated show next season. . . . Former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers begins her new job today as co-host of “Equal Time” with Mary Matalin on CNBC. ABC correspondent Cokie Roberts will guest. . . . Anchor Tom Brokaw of the “NBC Nightly News” holds a live cyber chat Tuesday at noon in the NBC Auditorium on America Online.