Looks like it will be announced Monday and will begin in 2014. SEC, ESPN To Announce SEC Network, Likely The Most Valuable TV Deal In College Sports - Forbes
kind of like why espn is worth more than the major 4 networks combined. it's all about number of cable subcriptions in the area rather than tv ratings and popularity.
i must say the pac-12 network has not been any great revelation. that is unless i care about softball and lacross. generally all the football games were being broadcasted anyway. and scott stupidy has not made an agreement with direct tv so i didn't even get the thing last year. i guess for a washington state fan living in colorado it probably was a big improvement.
Would it matter? And therein lies the difference between the SEC Network and others, IMO. You can have double the subscribers if I can get triple the rate.
The existing framework was probably a better situation for me considering where I live. ESPN3 was always my friend.