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For years buyers swore annually that they weren't going to get taken to the cleaners in the network TV upfront buying process. And each year, those same buyers - who promised not to reward the lowered value of broadcast TV with more ad dollars - stuffed both price and budget increases into the pockets of the networks' reps. But not this year, according to a MediaPost report indicating that NBC is on the ropes, actually agreeing to a price decrease.

NBC was already facing the need to raise prices just to stay even with last year's revenue levels. Its primetime schedule saw ratings decreases of 17 percent. Even some network TV buyers couldn't stomach that. Some deals are reportedly falling around four percent below the price of last year's upfront prices.

Last year NBC saw $2.3 billion of revenue in upfront primetime sales. Analysts, going on precedent, thought that the network would be able to finagle roughly the same amount this year, even in the face of a loss of audience.