I would guess that the actual increases (asked) for Lifetime and LMC are probably fairly much inline with the increase that other providers are getting for their channels. The hitch is the forcing of an additional channel for which there is no demand, with a separate carriage fee.
Unlike the other channels which are pretty much controlled by 4 major mega-corps, Lifetime doesn't have the leverage to force this kind of bundling down a cable or sat company's throat.
If Viacom, NBC/Universal, AOL, etc. demanded carriage of LRW or the Puppy Channel for that matter, Charlie would be asking what channel number they wanted. Lifetime, on the other hand, didn't have that kind of clout - and with the loss of the Hearst local station support - they now have even less.