 THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS... 
TWXN 89
07/21/97
Monday

The advance sheet of XENA MEDIA REVIEW (XMR):
http://xenafan.com/xmr

Excerpts from the following cites will appear in future
issues of XMR.


From the editor:

1. This is the beginning of a big week for California
Xenafans. We got Fests in the north and south this
coming weekend and it's the 2nd release of what may be
the most popular XWP episode amongst fans...yup, A DAY
IN THE LIFE. For being in the midst of the summer
dolldrums, it's a pretty good week.

2. Hitting 7.8 is an amazing thing. TWXN re-lives XWP's
greatest moment of glory in the ratings game during the
2nd season. A NECESSARY EVIL broke all RP (Renaissance
Pictures) records in one intense two week period.
Coming off the heals of THE QUEST's 7.7 the previous
week, it looked like XWP could do no wrong. And it
couldn't. It took the show 6 episodes before it got
back to scores under 5.5 (and that included plowing
through a 3rd release and three 2nd releases)! That was
one of the best shirt-tails to ride on in all of
syndicated TV's history. 

3. Taken as a whole, THE QUEST and A NECESSARY EVIL
contained the best that XWP had to offer. They touched
upon the devotion and intensity of the X&G
relationship, on Xena's never-ending quest for personal
redemption, non-stop fight scenes, enough pyrotechnics
to last a season, tons of Amazons (and Amazons FLYING
ACROSS THE SCREEN!!!!), Autolycus, a new and
fascinating nemesis, Xena saving Gabrielle, Gabrielle
saving Xena, Gabrielle reaching new heights of being "a
really good person", and did I fail to mention,
Callisto, Xena's trusty and dependable arch-enemy par
excellence? Is it any wonder why these episodes shot
off the roof, rating wise? Is it any wonder that the
rumors have it that the infamous rift episodes will
have the Amazons (perhaps more flying across the
screen?), Callisto, and an even newer nemesis in it,
and appear magically during the November sweeps? At
last a rumor that makes sense!

4. On Wednesday, we will re-visit the ENTERTAINMENT
WEEKLY feature on XWP.  


And now the excerpts covering the print media reaction
to A NECESSARY EVIL's acomplishment:


[    a] 03-06-97
   REUTERS NORTH AMERICAN WIRE. Thursday. 896 words. 
   COMMENTARY: A NECESSARY EVIL (#38), 1st release
ratings.
   The story hits Reuters! 
   EXCERPT:
   ...'Xena' Hits Season Zenith
   "Xena: Warrior Princess" is becoming the latest
syndication phenomenon. The show hit a record high for
the second week in a row for the period ending Feb. 23,
crushing all opponents and recording the highest rating
for an action hour all season. Xena upticked one-tenth
of a point to a 7.8, marking its fifth weekly rise in a
row and a 56 percent improvement over its rating five
weeks ago. For the first time, it tied for the top
season-to-date spot among weeklies with "Star Trek:
Deep Space Nine" and "Hercules." Compared to the same
week last season, "Xena" is up 37 percent....


[    b] 03-06-97
   DAILY VARIETY. Thursday. Page 7. 558 words. "'Xena'
hits a season zenith, tops all syndie action hours" By
Jenny Hontz
   COMMENTARY: XWP gets her own article in Variety!
   EXCERPT:
   Universal Domestic TV's "Xena: Warrior Princess" is
quickly becoming the latest syndication phenomenon. The
weekly action hour hit a new all-time high for the
second straight week for the period ending Feb. 23,
crushing all opponents and recording the highest rating
for an action hour all season.
   In the latest outing, "Xena" upticked another 1% to
a 7.8, which marked its fifth straight weekly increase
and a 56% improvement over its rating just five weeks
ago. For the first time ever, the showed tied for the
top season-to-date spot among weeklies with Paramount
Domestic TV's "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and
Universal's "Hercules." Compared to the same week last
season, "Xena" is up 37%.  
   Despite increases, "Xena's" top weekly competitors
lagged far behind on the latest national chart for the
third full sweeps week. "Hercules" gained 1% to a 7.0,
which was 4% ahead of last year's level and also a
season high. "Star Trek" gained 12% to 6.7, which was
off 8% from last year....


[   d] 03-07-97
   DAILY NEWS (New York). Friday. Page 109. 778 words.
"Scud Stud Movie to Focus on Globetrotting & War with
NBC"
   COMMENTARY: An example of how local papers used the
story off the newslines.
   EXCERPT:
   ...'Xena' real strong
   "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.
   The program averaged a 7.8 rating (percentage of the
nation's 97 million TV homes), notching its fifth
straight weekly increase. Not only that, the hot show
is up 56% over just five weeks ago (and 37% 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. 
   Richard Huff...
   ...GRAPHIC: 'XENA' RULES: Lucy Lawless


[   f] 03-10-97
   VARIETY. Page 39. 183 words. "Nielsen Syndication
Ratings"
   COMMENTARY: How XWP fared with all the competition!
It was #7 of ALL syndicated TV shows. 
   REPRINT:
For week ended February 23, 1997  
                                 Stations/
Rank  Program                   % coverage   AA%  GAA %
1 Wheel of Fortune               230/99     12.7     --
2 Home Improvement               232/98     10.5   12.5
2 Jeopardy!                      225/99     10.5     --
4 Oprah Winfrey Show             235/99      9.2    9.3
5 Seinfeld                       227/98      8.3     --
6 Portfolio XV                   194/96      7.9    8.2
7 Xena                           224/97      7.8    8.6
8 Simpsons                       206/96      7.1    8.5
9 Journeys of Hercules           234/98      7.0    7.8
10 Wheel of Fortune-Wknd.        182/84      6.9     --
11 Entertainment Tonight         190/96      6.8    6.9
12 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine    238/98      6.7    7.3
13 WCW Wrestling                 173/92      6.5   10.3
14 Inside Edition                155/91      5.5    5.6
15 Rosie O'Donnell Show          223/99      5.4    5.4
16 Jenny Jones                   186/94      4.8    5.1
17 Mad About You                 215/96      4.7    4.9
17 Montel Williams               194/96      4.7    4.7
17 Sally Jessy Raphael           173/94      4.7    4.8
20 Home Improvement-Wknd.        216/93      4.6     --
   AA average refers to nonduplicated viewing for
multiple airings of the same show. GAA average
encompasses duplicated viewing. GAA average does not
apply when there is only one run of a show.


[   k] 03-10-97
  MEDIAWEEK. 945 words. "$ 450-$ 500 Million Take Seen
For Harte-Hanks Properties"
   COMMENTARY: Example of how the trade papers covered
the news.
   EXCERPT:
   ...Xena' and Hercules' Heroic For Universal in Feb.
Sweeps 
   Universal Television Enterprises reported last week
that Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary
Journeys earned their best-ever ratings during the
February sweeps. Xena scored the highest weekly rating
of any syndicated action-adventure this season, with an
8.7 average Nielsen rating for the week of Feb. 10-16. 
   Xena's season-to-date 6.3 rating has put the show
ahead of Paramount's Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (6.2)
in the action-adventure race.  
   The second half of Universal's two-hour "Action
Pack" block, Hercules, also reached season-high ratings
in February. Since its debut in January 1995, Hercules
has bulked up its ratings by 30 percent.
   Ned Nalle, executive vp of first-run programming for
Universal, attributed the consistent growth to
"exceedingly excellent" writing, producing and
directing from the series' executive producers, Sam
Raimi and Rob Tappert, as well as the acting of Lucy
Lawless (Xena) and Kevin Sorbo (Hercules). Nalle also
credited client stations, particularly the Tribune
group, for extensive on-air promotions of the block....


[   l] 03-12-97
   AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. Page D10. 402 words.
"Curry named news anchor for Today'" By Richard Huff
and Liz Boas
   COMMENTARY: A little local blurb for ROC fans.
   EXCERPT:
   ...Xena: Warrior Princess,'' which stars Lucy
Lawless in the title role and former Austinite Renee
O'Connor as her sidekick, is riding roughshod over the
competition.
   Last month, 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.
   The program averaged a 7.8 rating (percentage of the
nation's 97 million TV homes) in the third week of
Februrary. Not only that, the hot show is up 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. 
Xena'' airs at 7 p.m. Saturdays on KNVA Channel 54....


Notices:

All back issues of XMR and TWXN are available at
(http://xenafan.com/xmr). We herein give praise and
thanks to Tom Simpson for the space he has graciously
donated from his spectacular, TOM'S XENA PAGE
(http://xenafan.com). If you have never been there, you
are **not** a xenafan!

TWXN is the advance sheet for XMR, an annotated world
press review of reports regarding the internationally
syndicated television show XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (1995
- 2000+?) and the castmembers, Lucy Lawless and Renee
O'Connor. TWXN is not available for subscription,
however it is posted Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on
the XenaVerse, Hercules-Xena, and Chakram Mailing Lists
(thank you Lucia! I am greatly indebt to you), the MCA
NetForum, the Xenite Message Center, and alt.tv.xena. I
also would like to thank sirvin@law.wfu.edu for
assitance in collecting the newstories. For a free
e-mail subscription to XMR subscribe by e-mail to
ktaborn@lightspeed.net by stating somewhere in the
subject or text "sub xmr". 


