Although 20/20 clipped its wings opening night, the Atlantis Films/Keatley MacLeod-produced Cold Squad took its Friday night time slot with the second episode and substantially increased its audience in key demographics.

According to AC Nielsen’s Toronto/Hamilton People Metres, the season premiere Jan. 23 recorded a 7.6 rating for Baton in the 10 p.m. slot. Global’s 20/20 ran an 8.2, with Jerry Springer a 5.5, Ontv’s Nash Bridges at 5.4, cbc’s National News a 3 and Fox’s syndicated Seinfeld at 2.9.

In the Ontario region alone, Cold Squad reached a 282,000 audience 2+, 130,000 in the 25-54 demographic. The program rated substantially better with women than men. In 25-54, the female audience was 83,000 versus 47,000 male.

Week two is a better story. Audience 2+ for Ontario increased to 390,000. The 25-54 pulled up to 194,000. The female 25-54 hit 110,000, while for some odd reason, men kicked in to almost double their 25-54 skew to 83,000. For the record, the 55+ demo is strong at 166,000.

In other Cancon ratings news, Twitch City’s Jan. 19 premiere drew a 605,000 audience 2+, keeping three-quarters of This Hour Has 22 Minutes’ unusually low 835,000 viewers. The Ice Storm brought 1.3 million to The National that same night.

Episode two of Twitch ran 539,000 viewers behind This Hour’s 1.1 million Jan. 26.

Still with cbc, the Credo Entertainment-produced Nights Below Station Street took in a very respectable 796,000 audience 2+ last month.

The mid-January telecast of The Sleep Room came in at 1.1 million. The conclusion the following night fell outside the Nielsen Top 20 radar.

Also of note is a nice score for Baton/CTV, which just picked up national rights for Ally Mcbeal after telecasting the series only in Vancouver for the first four months of the season. The program debuted on the Nielsen Television Index Top 20 network programs in ninth spot with an audience of 1.2 million viewers 2+.

– Spotlight on Showcase

Three months after those splashy new services and the new golden child of the tv press is, er, Showcase Television.

We’re not particularly sure how it happened, but between Thief Takers, Adrenaline Junkies, Oz, the uncut telecast of Pulp Fiction and one fine, slick promotions effort, Showcase is commanding ink and thus eyeballs.

Compared to fall 1996, its 24-hour average minute audience increased 30% in fall 1997, rising to 30,000 viewers 2+ from 23,000. In October, it was tied with Discovery Channel for number one spot in tier two with a 1 audience share. All of the above happened before the press on Oz etc., and Pulp Fiction most recently.

The original uncut version of Pulp aired on Jan. 24, attracting 549,000 viewers for audience 2+, according to AC Nielsen. It’s the single highest audience for Showcase and the biggest audience for a second-tier specialty channel since their launch.

Now if this kind of thing keeps up, tier two and its hard-won 70%-odd penetration might actually weather the latest maelstrom.

Here’s a little story: one blunders into the office a couple of weeks ago, bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived, just off the plane from a week in Utah where nobody gives a rat’s pitootie about cable, and picks up a foot of mail. On top is a stapled pile of faxes with photocopies of newspaper clippings.

Glancing at the headlines, the first thought is, ‘Why is one sending these old 1995 consumer revolt stories?’ We’re halfway through the big coffee before actually absorbing the fact that Rogers hiked specialty fees in january. In a way that screams we will manipulate you stupid sheep consumers. Much hopping about. Several incredulous phone calls, then we settle down.

A couple of thoughts: granted, at some point tier three was priced higher than Rogers stock. Still, this may have been a good time not to increase the hoodwinking rates. How To Turn Marketing into Rocket Science 101. Maybe Showcase offers a consulting service?

Also, Vancouver loves to hate Rogers and didn’t need more ammunition. Word is a popular Vancouver call-in program and its high-profile announcer (mistakenly) took the crtc to task for approving a rate hike on air. Subsequent phone calls to the crtc ensued. It must be good to be Cindy Grauer, the new crtc commissioner for Vancouver and the Yukon. Camp David is crowded, but only a mere plane ride away.

– Discovery satisfied

Speaking of tier two, Nielsen Media Research released a national study last week ranking Discovery Channel number one among all tv channels for viewer satisfaction, ahead of second and third ranked The Learning Channel and a&e.

Ranking overall on the percentage ‘very satisfied’ index puts tsn in fourth, followed (in order) by The Weather Network, pbs, cmt, Global, Fox and ytv.

On the awareness index, 91% knew about the service, 71% described themselves as viewers. twn recorded 94% and 73% respectively. a&e recorded a 87% awareness rate and 72% use.

The poll, commissioned by Nielsen and dubbed Canadian Media Quality Ratings Survey, took a sample group of 2,700 Canadian adults and interviewed them at home in June through August last year.

– Hang-10, a household word on to tier three.

The first concentrated promotions effort for Outdoor Life Network is off the ground, chasing the syndicated sitcom groupies and the after-school crowd in the 5 p.m. slot, Monday to Friday.

Dubbed Rush Hour, ‘a high-octane hour’ of television, ‘an action-packed hour of pulsating television,’ complete with ‘a number of turbo-charged shows that keep the adrenaline flowing,’ the first half of the hour opens with Board Wild. The series zeros in on the action, lifestyle, fashion and music surrounding snowboarding, wakeboarding, bodyboarding, surfing, skateboarding, windsurfing and mountainboarding (mountainboarding?).

The bottom half of the hour will stream five series: Snowboarder magazine, Real Action, High Five, Ride Guide and Surfer Magazine.

Over at Bravo!, while the majority are giving into Valentine’s schlock, Bravo! is taking the high road. God bless them, they’re airing the world television premiere of The Cockroach That Ate Cincinatti Feb. 11.

The Michael McNamara-produced/directed look at culture and madness through one aging hippie turned stand-up comedienne debuted at the 1996 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released theatrically in 1997 and garnered two Genie nominations including best actor for Alan Williams, who penned the script and played lead.

The film was coproduced by Judy Holm and James Weyman, with music by Kurt Swinghammer.

Space: The Imagination Station has picked up the lost episodes of Dr. Who for broadcast Feb. 3. Approximately 40 were supposedly destroyed when the bbc purged its vaults decades ago. Parts of the Dr. Who series surfaced in Hong Kong in 1992.

On Prime tv, Global aired a live, commercial-free telecast of the CanWest Global annual general meeting at the end of January. Although the effervescent I.H. Asper was engaging as usual, at least part of the fun was the one board member on stage who was blinded by the television lights and spent a good part of the hour holding a sheet of paper in front of his head. Ratings have yet to surface.

All teasing aside, mention must be made of that most excellent Gemini promo produced by and currently on air on Global. The :30 salutes the independent producers behind its 43 award nominations using clips of many dancing people from Traders, Ready or Not and Outer Limits. It aired several times during the Superbowl telecast, reaching an audience more than on par with The X-Files.