Ay Caramba! NBC's decline this decade hasn't exactly been an industry secret. The network that once ruled the airwaves with hits such as Seinfeld, ER, Friends, and Cheers has now given up its place on the ladder to its rivals Fox, CBS, and ABC.

But numbers from last week were particularly eye-popping for the network, according to stats from TV By The Numbers. NBC averaged fewer than 6 million viewers in primetime for the week, placing it well behind the other majors, with total-viewers champ CBS averaging 11.49 million, Fox averaging 10.28 million, and ABC averaging 9.17 million. In fact, NBC was actually much closer to the (for lack of a better word) minor networks.

As far as demographics go, things were even worse. NBC actually took a back seat to one of the lesser networks in the 18-34 year old demo. The network that beat it? Spanish-language Univision, which averaged 1.16 million in that age group to NBC's just-under 1 million.

With NBC positioning five hours of Jay Leno next fall, it doesn't seem like the network is even interested in being a major force anymore. Even NBC boss Jeff Zucker seems to be throwing in the towel (or serving up a serious portion of sour grapes), as evidenced by his quote last week: "What does number one in prime time mean anymore?... I don't think we'll ever be able to say, 'NBC is number one in primetime.'" Yep, that'll rally the troops.

Currently, NBC's best-rated (in key demos) scripted hit is The Office, with The Biggest Loser, Heroes, Law & Order: SVU, and Celebrity Apprentice also dropping by the top 20. Heroes, however, is sinking like a rock.

Zucker and co-chairman Ben Silverman have been lambasted in the media for their decisions (the new Knight Rider!), but are they really to blame? Probably. But with the surge of cable television, Internet viewing, and DVR watching, all the majors are hurting--it's just NBC that is taking the worst of it. The network may perform well during awards time (having Tina Fey will do that), but unless they're melting down those trophies for gold, they aren't paying the bills.

NBC is in serious trouble. Remember when ER was pulling in 30 million viewers a week? Do you feel sorry for the network, or are they getting what they deserve?