Charter near deal w/ SEC Network. Remaining hold out: DirecTV

This season, the new network will air 45 SEC football games starting August 28. Its first University of Georgia game will be against Troy on Sept. 20.

Other sports covered on the network include softball, baseball, basketball and volleyball. Several SEC talk shows and original programs are set to air as well.

The network, which essentially caused the demise of Comcast Sports South, is owned by ESPN so it has plenty of leverage to ensure carriers in metro areas such as Atlanta carry it. And in Georgia, the demand is natural and obvious. I'd be shocked if DirecTV didn't have a deal ready soon.

The first actual football games don't start airing until August 28, two weeks after launch.

So far, the network is projected to be in 75 million households by launch date, according to a story in Fox Sports. The story estimates annual revenues starting at more than $600 million for the network, which would already be the fifth largest sports channel in the nation from the get go.

Subscribers in Atlanta and elsewhere in the South will be ponying up $1.30 per month for the privilege, the story noted. It also said that each of the SEC-affiliated athletic programs should receive a windfall of extra cash by year three of the deal, estimated at nearly $20 million extra per school.