The launch of the SEC Network means an expanded schedule for longtime ESPNU host Dari Nowkhah. ESPNU’s full-time host since ’11, Nowkhah was tapped for the same role on “SEC Now,” the SEC Net's lead highlight and news show. Nowkhah also hosts “Dari and Mel” on ESPN Radio alongside Mel Kiper Jr. each Saturday morning. “Saturdays will be pretty frantic,” Nowkhah said. “I’ll walk in at about 6:00 -- Dari and Mel goes 7:00 to 10:00 -- and then I’ll be here until our last show at the end of the night, which might be around midnight. Pretty crazy.” Nowkhah prior to the SEC Net’s launch answered some of the big questions surrounding the new channel and college football’s landscape.
Q: What’s the strategy like for you now catering to an SEC audience rather than a broader ESPNU viewership?
Nowkhah: You want what you do to matter and you want all the hard work that we put in -- the entire staff -- we want to know that the product we put out is watched. We’re going to get that here. It’s not just a high number of households, but it’s a high number of households that will be intently watching. That’s great. A lot of people say this is a regional network, but you’re not a regional network if you’re in more than 90 million homes. This is clearly a national network.
Q: What does the SEC Network offer that other conference channels, such as the Big Ten or Pac-12 Networks, do not?
Nowkhah: There are some networks on television that might be in 60, 70, 80 million homes, but it doesn’t mean people are watching. You can flip through your 400 cable stations at home and some you’ve never come close to stopping on. This is a network that will not just be in a ton of households. The SEC Net, unlike the Pac-12 and Big Ten, as a whole you’re not going to have someone that just has it on in the other room while they’re cooking dinner. They’re going to be sitting there watching, listening and responding to what we’re saying, and I don’t think every network can say the same. It shows there’s something to this ESPN thing, and this is the most powerful conference in college athletics.
Q: How does the SEC Network compare in its coverage to another ESPN property like the Longhorn Network?
Nowkhah: Our analysts here, I think we’re going to want them to say what they think. I don’t think this is a network where we’re going to sit and say, “We’ve got to be favorable to this or that.” If they see something they want to say, by all means say it. What if there’s one school that probably needs to have something questioned, and they don’t do it? Now you’ve got 13 other schools calling you up and it looks like you’re protecting somebody. I think we have a little bit of freedom to say, “Hey, if you want to call them out, go ahead.”
Q: What are your thoughts on the new College Football Playoff?
Nowkhah: I didn’t want more than four. I was one of those people who -- I didn’t hate the way it used to be. I didn’t want to lose the regular season, the integrity and the fact that every single game means something. I’ve always said that you shouldn’t lose to a team that you shouldn’t lose to and then say, “That’s ok, I’m not worried since we’ll still be in the playoffs.” That’s not what college football has ever been about. If you’re a contender and you lose a game, you genuinely should be concerned. I think four teams still gives you that but at the same time, now you get two extra games and the final. I’ve come around on this, but I don’t want eight.
Q: Is there a sports business story outside of the SEC that you are keeping an eye on right now?
Nowkhah: I’ve lost a lot of interest in baseball because of a lack of salary cap. I’m a Dodgers fan, and I hate it. The ownership group took over and now they’ve become like the Yankees and the Red Sox. For years, I hoped those teams would lose every game because of the way they operate. Now, the Dodgers operate in the same way as them, actually worse. I’m also interested in what’s going to happen in the NFL. The experience outside of the stadium is great with fantasy football and what not. I love the NFL, we have a team here and I usually go to a game every year. But I don’t want to go to more than that because I can sit on my couch and watch the rest of them. So what does the NFL do about that in-game experience? In college sports, this conference specifically, I can’t imagine people saying they’d rather stay at home.
