Variety is reporting that Spike TV's two-hour premier of the Marvel Comics-based Blade series drew 2.5 million viewers, which made it the top-rated cable show for Wednesday night and the highest rated debut in the short history of Spike TV channel.  Blade, which is produced by David Goyer, is Spike's first attempt at producing a dramatic series (see 'Spike Orders 13 Blade Episodes'). 

The two-hour Blade debut also topped a repeat showing of ABC's Lost during the 10pm (ET, PT) timeslot.  Almost half of the Blade viewers were in Spike TV's target demo of 18-49 year-old males, and when the show was repeated in the midnight to 2 am slot more than half of the 1.2 million viewers were from Spike's preferred demographic.

Marvel is prepping a new Blade comic book series, which will debut in September with art by Howard Chaykin (see 'Chaykin to Draw Blade Comic').