I think SEC Network will get added by DirecTV.
A deal may end up getting reached very closely to the launch date of SEC Network.
It appears that DirecTV is making it company policy to snub debuting sports programmers over carriage costs that don't satisfy DirecTV. (That DirecTV is using its leverage to get deals closer to what it is after from new programmers who are more in need carriage on DirecTV than DirecTV is in need of carrying those debuting sports programmers.)
We still do not have Pac-12 Network and SportsNet LA. And I guess one can opine whether it has been those programmers
or DirecTV who has been
the more reasonable. But if a deal doesn't get made, it ultimately will not make enough difference to a DirecTV subscriber. A subscriber who badly wants Pac-12 Network and SportsNet LA will go, or will have gone, elsewhere.
With ESPN's upcoming SEC Network, it's likely more a deal-breaker from the collective perspectives of college-sports lovers who will not be as patient, as they were with not getting Pac-12 Network, should DirecTV not add it by its launch date.
I think DirecTV will succeed with reaching a contractual agreement to carry SEC Network. And I think it will happen in time for SEC Network's scheduled launch date of August 14, 2014.
From Wikipedia.org (@ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEC_Network#Availability ):
"
AT&T U-verse was announced as the first television provider to agree to carry SEC Network. In January 2014,
Sports Business Journal reported that ESPN was seeking a carriage rate of $1.30 per-subscriber per-month in SEC markets, and $0.25 in non-SEC markets; in comparison,
Big Ten Network charges around $1.00 per subscriber in Big Ten markets. It was also noted that SEC Network's opening doubleheader may have been intended to put pressure on
Comcast,
Time Warner Cable and
Charter Communications to pick up SEC Network, as they predominantly involve teams located within their service areas. In March 2014,
Dish Network added SEC Network as part of a wider carriage deal with Disney for its television networks. On April 30, 2014,
Google Fiber was added as a carrier. In June 2014, network head Justin Connolly expressed concern for the lack of carriage deals for SEC Network beyond those with AT&T and Dish Network, and considered the situation to be 'alarming'. However, he also noted that the network may successfully negotiate more carriage deals closer to its launch."
