I don't have a clue to the rates providers are charged by networks. Though, I would expect it would be like going to the local rock quarry. Where they charge (lets say) $10 a ton for size "a" and $12 a ton for size "c", etc. But, they also have a minimum fee of $20. So, if you purchase 1 ton of size "a", which cost you $10 plus sales tax. You still have to pay the $20 minimum fee. In other words, perhaps Voom has to pay (lets say) $2 per sub a month for ESPN Tier (alone) and they have 40,000 subs so that's $80,000 a month, but ESPN has a monthly minimum fee of (lets say) $150,000 per provider. So, Voom still has to pay $150,000 per month to keep the service on Voom. This is only my conjecture, but I'm sure it's something simular in nature. So, Voom probably won't be making any money until they cross such hurdles with each network. Each network has their own set of rules to go by. So, I expect it will be several years before Voom starts to make any money. Until then, the Doomsayers will haunt us continuously.
EDIT: I think ESPN2HD is already part of the deal. It's a matter of all things combined. Such as cost per sub, available bandwidth, available HD content for summer and/or baseball. Is it worth the cost verses subscriber numbers verses possible sign-ups if made available verses where will we put it, in Voom basic verses VaVaVoom verses a new sports Tier Package. Who knows?