@marykir: Thank you for the explanation! I have found another article. Cablevision Blackout Impacts Fox Ratings: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=138139 The Fox blackout on Cablevision that has kept the network off the air in a huge chunk of the market, led to a massive ratings drop for this week's "House" episode in New York. But the New York Giants game suffered less than some expected -- which may also be the case for the late news on the Fox station. On Monday, "House" had a .8 rating in the 18-to-49 demo -- down a whopping 67% from the week before the blackout. That decline looks even steeper considering that the show's ratings were the same this week on a national level compared to Oct. 11. ...

Thanks, Vicodin. I was wondering how the blackout would impact the ratings and now we have our answer. It seems there are many out there that would love nothing more than for the show to tank and are quick to point out the reasons why. I think there are many factors why it isn't the hit is was in earlier seasons but I don't think it is because of any one particular storyline. All the fandoms combined aren't anything close to the % of the casual viewer that watches the show.

vicodin, thanks for posting that article which gives an unbiased and plausible explanation for the decline in ratings for "House" this week. I find this kind of analysis so much more cogent and relevant than the tired grousing and whining about story lines. I live in between the New York and Philadelphia areas so I was able to watch the show on the Philly Fox station as usual, but it is indeed shocking that so many in the NYC area were cut off by the corporate greed of both sides in this dispute.

I was attempting to be general enough and not pinpointing any particular group. Some of the comments from the articles actually come out and say it. If I goofed, I apologize.

From the Media Post article cited above: Yet on Sunday, the Giants-Detroit game posted a 4.1 rating in the 18-to-49 demo. That was down 27% from the Giants-Houston game Oct. 10 on Fox -- the week before the blackout. Both games were on at 1 p.m. in New York. ***** Cablevision homes account for about 43% of the 7.5 million households in the New York market. Time Warner Cable blankets Manhattan, while Verizon's FiOS has a presence in the area, as do other operators. Unless I missed it, the article did not attempt to explain why the game's decline was so much less than House's. Given the statistic about the number of homes with Cablevision vs. Time Warner, could it be that more sports fans searched out friends with T-W than did House fans? I do not know just what/how info is recorded--but I would think that info on the actual number and characteristics of all persons watching one set would be a factor in the ratings. Otherwise, how would they calculate the demographic breakdowns? eta: Many, many thanks to Marykir and others who so faithfully post "the rest of the story" when sources do not provide the proper context for their statements. Unfortunately, it's sometimes a losing battle that only proves time and time again the old adage about the "three types of lies...white lies, damn lies...and statistics." :)

Possibly football fans are more likely to have DirecTV because of their NFL Sunday Ticket package? No idea how common satellite is in the NYC area...

Unless I missed it, the article did not attempt to explain why the game's decline was so much less than House's. Because the Lions suck? (Seriously. They haven't won a game all season, have lost something like 27 straight on the road. Football fans are going to switch to any other game available to see a good football game, rather than the Lions.)

Barbara Barnett (Sasmom) has posted her Blogcritics article on ratings. "Demystifying the #TVRatings: An Interview with #TVbytheNumbers' Robert Seidman - Blogcritics Video http://bit.ly/chcDxS"

Advertisers are going big on the product placement, maybe even in the scripts as well. On House, I've seen Maker's Mark, Apple, the Yamaha, the Fender flying V guitar practically got a whole episode to itself, and so on.

All the hospital equipment is recognizable too (Hill-Rom beds and of course GE's imaging equipment, which is even thanked in the credits). Sota turntables is -- or was -- mentioned in the credits as well, I think. At least their product placements aren't as annoying as some shows. ("Fringe's" high speed chase in a Ford Taurus, where everyone goes out of their way to use the Sync system, for instance.)

Heh. Kristen Dos Santos finds herself backpedaling on her earlier comments about how badly "House" is doing, in a new column "Five Shows That Are Doing Better Than You Thought." Albeit, her backpedaling is only parenthetically, because God forbid she admit she was wrong about anything: And, by the by, House is tied for 10th place, too, despite the 5 million-plus viewers who have abandoned the show…