• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, October 28, 2010

The Cablevision blackout led to slashed ratings in New York for Fox drama "Glee" this week, with the Halloween-themed hour down 29% compared to the previous original episode.

On Tuesday on WNYW/Channel 5, "Glee" posted a 2.84 in the 18-to-49 demo, down 29% from a 4.01 on Oct. 12. Nationally, ratings were up 4% in the key demo.

With WNYW/Channel 5 off the air in 43% of the New York market, its late local news continues to suffer ratings drops at much higher percentages than that. On Tuesday, the 10 p.m. newscast drew a .74 in the 18-to-49 demo, down 58% from the Tuesday before the Cablevision darkness.

That performance, however, was up 17% from last week with the blackout. Coverage of Charlie Sheen's latest problems in New York may have helped.

But last Friday (Oct. 22), the newscast posted a skeletal .2, down 68% compared to the Friday before the signal was pulled. Fox's coverage of playoff baseball skews the numbers on other nights.

The only other one offering a comparison where the news ran as scheduled was this past Monday, where there was a 30% drop versus the Monday prior to the blackout.

Fox is off in 3 million Cablevision homes in New York; the cable operator is locked in a carriage dispute with News Corp. But that number could increase if News Corp.'s looming battle with Dish Network overlaps, leaving even more homes in the country's largest market without Fox.

"Once people start to leave and they establish viewing patterns on something else and this becomes protracted, are they going to get them back?" wondered MPG vice president Don Seaman.

After a 67% drop for Fox drama "House" among 18-to-49 year-olds in New York last week, the show had a another decline this week to a .55. But its 30% drop came with a repeat episode on Monday, where a falloff would be expected. And showing the vagaries of ratings, the New York decrease was much less than the 61% nationally.