RPM 2Night
| RPM 2Night/RPM 2Day | |
|---|---|
| File:RPM 2Night logo 2000-2003.jpg | |
| Genre | Sports News program |
| Directed by | John Santagata (1999-2003) |
| Starring | John Kernan Kenny Mayne Rece Davis Whit Watson Benny Parsons Jerry Punch Bill Weber Robin Miller Jon Beekhuis Matt Yocum Mike Massaro Marlo Klain Sally Larvick Tom Higgins |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes (22 minutes plus commercials) |
| Production company(s) | ESPN |
| Distributor | ESPN, Inc. |
| Release | |
| Original network | ESPN2 |
| Original release | September 3, 1995 – November 16, 2003 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Totally NASCAR and NASCAR Race Hub and NASCAR America |
| External links | |
| [{{#property:P856}} Website] | |
Search RPM 2Night on Amazon.
RPM 2Night is a former American nightly news program seen on ESPN2 that was devoted entirely to motorsports.
Contributors[edit]
| Hosts | Tenure |
|---|---|
| John Kernan | Labor Day weekend in 1995 - November 16, 2003 |
| Kenny Mayne | Weekends, 1995 - August, 1997 |
| Rece Davis | Weekends, August 20, 1997 - 2000 |
| Whit Watson | Weekends, 2000 - August 2003 |
| Analysts | Tenure | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Benny Parsons | 1995 - 2000 | NASCAR |
| Jerry Punch | 1995 - 2003 | NASCAR, CART, and IRL |
| Bill Weber | 1995 - 2000 | NASCAR |
| Robin Miller | 2001 - 2003 | CART and IRL |
| Jon Beekhuis | 1995 - 2001 | CART |
| Reporters | Tenure | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Weber | 1995 - 2000 | NASCAR |
| Matt Yocum | 1999 - 2000 | NASCAR |
| Mike Massaro | 2001 - 2003 | |
| Marlo Klain | 1997 - 2003 | CART and IRL |
| Sally Larvick | 1996 | IRL |
Programming history[edit]
The program aired six nights a week (except Saturday) from Labor Day weekend 1995 to November 16, 2003.
On weekends where ESPN or ABC covered a Cup Series race, the weekend host would fill in on Fridays, and Mondays (if the race was postponed until then).
All forms of racing were included, whether it was the big-league racing of NASCAR, IndyCars, or Formula One, or the local Saturday night short tracks. "Eat My Dust," a Tuesday-night package of highlights of sprint cars and other vehicles racing on non-pavement tracks, was a cult favorite, along with the segment Open-Wheel Wednesday.
On Sunday mornings. a version titled RPM 2Day aired as a pre-race show before major events. During the month of May in 2002-2003, the daily coverage of the Indianapolis 500 practice was billed RPM 2Night at Indy.
The Monday through Friday versions of the show originated from ESPN Regional Television studios in Charlotte, NC, while the weekend versions originated from ESPN's main headquarters in Bristol, CT.
RPM2Night hit a major snag in 2001, when ESPN lost NASCAR rights in a consolidated TV package. Shortly after the sale of the rights, ESPN was told that, while it would still receive credentials for its reporters and news crews, the content they obtained inside the track, as well as race highlights, could only be used on two outlets: SportsCenter and ESPNEWS. From that point forward, in lieu of highlights, RPM 2Night could only show still photographs from the weekly Winston Cup Series race. In order to air post race interviews, the ESPN crews shot all interviews from outside the track, as that did not violate NASCAR's ruling. It was common for the interviews to be conducted at motorhome parking lots, track helipads, and nearby airports. Ironically, these locations netted RPM2Night more interviews than they could normally get inside the track as drivers routinely scurried to the helipads and private jets to get home. Still, the loss of highlights was a difficult challenge to overcome.
Media reports of the time suggested that NASCAR imposed the new procedures to give a benefit to Fox Sports Net, which was launching a similar NASCAR-only show, Totally NASCAR, at the time. NASCAR officials denied this and claimed that they merely wanted to give ESPN an incentive to provide NASCAR more exposure on SportsCenter, which had a higher viewership.
RPM 2Night signed off for the last time on November 16, 2003 following its coverage of the 2003 Ford 400.
ESPN continued producing shows devoted to the NHRA and IndyCar Series that aired on race days only. They can be said to be spin-offs of RPM 2Night.
See also[edit]
NASCAR Now- ESPN's NASCAR news and analysis show that began broadcasting in February 2007 and ended in June 2014.
This article "RPM 2Night" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:RPM 2Night. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
