"Tense" is the highest-rated new episode of 2003 thusfar, with both February Sweeps episodes "Stigma" and "Cease Fire" only marginally improving. While "Stigma"'s overnight rating matched that of January's "Dawn" (story) with a 4.2/6, the first Sweeps episode of 2003 ended up with a significantly larger audience by the time the final numbers came out: 4.4 vs. 3.99. With a three-tenths of a point uptick in the overnight for "Future Tense," it is likely that ENTERPRISE will have seen its largest audience since November Sweeps once the final data are released.

"Tense" still ranks below the first half of the season in overnight figures, with episodes like "Carbon Creek" earning a 4.9 and "Dead Stop" and "A Night in Sickbay" even higher. But the increase has been long overdue for ENTERPRISE and coincides with what many fans have considered to be two of the season's best episodes: "Cease Fire" and "Future Tense."

Overall UPN took fifth place for the eight o'clock hour, beating rival WB in the slot and in the nighly average, 3.9/7 to 3.2/5. For the complete overnight ratings round-up, visit this page.

UPDATE 18:46: Yesterday we reported that "Cease Fire" earned the same final rating number as "Stigma," a 2.9. Audience figures out today reveal a significant increase in the amount of viewers for "Fire," despite the similar rating. "Stigma" was watched by 4.4 million people while "Fire" reached 4.78 million. Expect similar increases when the audience numbers are available for yesterday's "Future Tense."