The SEC Network burst onto the scene this summer with its debut season. SEC fans everywhere rejoiced knowing they would have a channel that was all SEC all the time.

As great as it is for all involved (TV money!) the programming leaves a little to be desired. Outside of the actual games, there is very little to tune in to. On Saturdays, “SEC Nation” goes up against the ESPN staple “College GameDay” and doesn’t come close to being as entertaining of a watch. Granted, the coverage is more in-depth as it pertains to the SEC, but the production value of “GameDay” is unprecedented and anytime someone tries to compete, the effort falls flat.

The tentpole program is probably “The Paul Finebaum Show” and that, well, it’s not very good TV. Sure, there have been some good rants from callers, but the 4-hour show relies too much on the crazies that call in. Any time the best parts of a show are the people who call in with a limited football knowledge, that doesn’t make for a great show. I think some of the problems with the show could be fixed by trimming it by an hour, but that would present a couple of other problems. The first would be finding something to fill that hour, something the network already struggles with, and they would still need to rely on people who rest comfortably well off of the deep end. Finebaum has made a very nice career out of his radio show, but a good radio show does not always make good TV.

Dari Nowkhah is a bright spot for the networks show “SEC Now.” Nowkhah expertly steers the program through its time on the air and manages the other personalities very well. It is just tough to fill out an entire show every day and have it be compelling enough to tune in regularly. It’s a fine show, but when you rely almost solely on it to carry a network (outside of games, of course), it just isn’t enough.

As it currently stands, the SEC Network essentially consists of 4 programming blocks: games, SEC Nation, SEC Now, and The Paul Finebaum show. The network will need to find more compelling shows to get people to tune in on a regular basis outside of just watching games. I have no doubt it is doing just fine from a financial standpoint, but from a “watchability” standpoint, there is plenty of work left to be done.