`Xena' Rides High In The TV Ratings

"Xena: Warrior Princess," which stars Lucy Lawless in the title role, is riding roughshod over the competition.

In the week ending Feb. 23, the syndicated program had its highest ratings ever, according to Nielsen. In fact, the show set a high mark for any of the syndicated action-adventure hours this season.

"Xena" airs 5 p.m. Saturdays on KCPQ-TV (Fox).

The program averaged a 7.8 rating (the percentage of the nation's 97 million TV homes that tuned in), notching its fifth straight weekly increase. Not only that, viewership for the hot show is up 56 percent over just five weeks ago (and 37 percent over the same week a year ago).

Also, with its hot week, "Xena" tied "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Hercules" for the top spot in the season-to-date ratings for syndicated weekly dramas.