Also to keep in mind about the Syndie Ratings posted- Deal or No Deal is the Nationwide average for Week 2 while TP:AP is just the overnight metered market average for Week 1 of their show. Remember how DorND was a 1.1 in the overnight metered market and then jumped to a 1.6 when the full nationals came out? It will be interesting to see if a similar affect occurs for TP:AP occurs when the final full national numbers come out next week.
In answer to the question about "Is cable really pulling that many people away?", the answer is yes. Why? So many choices. It has made the market so fragmented because there are so many channels. However, let us not forget that there have been some positives to come from the cable game show world. Who knows whether we would have had the pleasure of Win Ben Stein's Money, Lingo, Debt, Supermarket Sweep, Shop 'Til You Drop, Hollywood Showdown, the 80s versions of Jackpot and Chain Reaction, and many other cable game shows that we came to know and love? Just my two cents...