RPM 2Night

RPM 2Night/RPM 2Day
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 1995 – November 16, 2003
Chronology
Related shows Totally NASCAR
External links
Website

RPM 2Night is a former American nightly news program seen on ESPN2 that was devoted entirely to motorsports.

Programming history

The program aired six nights a week (except Saturday) from Labor Day weekend 1995 to November 16, 2003. Contributors were as follows:

Hosts Tenure Analysts Tenure Sanctioning Body Covered Reporters Tenure Sanctioning Body Covered
John Kernan Labor Day weekend in 1995 - November 16, 2003 Benny Parsons 1995 - 2000 NASCAR Bill Weber 1995 - 2000 NASCAR
Kenny Mayne Weekends, 1995 - August, 1997 Jerry Punch 1995 - 2003 NASCAR, CART, and IRL Matt Yocum 1999 - 2000
Rece Davis Weekends, August 20, 1997 - 2000 Bill Weber 1995 - 2000 NASCAR Mike Massaro 2001 - 2003
Whit Watson Weekends, 2000 - August 2003 Robin Miller 2001 - 2003 CART and IRL Marlo Klain 1997 - 2003 CART and IRL
Jon Beekhuis 1995 - 2001 CART Sally Larvick 1996 IRL

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 it could only show NASCAR highlights on two programs: SportsCenter and ESPNEWS. From that point forward, RPM 2Night could only show still photographs from the weekly Winston Cup Series race. Furthermore, ESPN's reporters had their track credentials pulled. Interviews with drivers and other principals took place either at the track's parking lots or at nearby commuter airports.

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.

ESPN produces shows devoted to the NHRA and IndyCar Series that air on race days only. They can be said to be spin-offs of RPM 2Night.

See also

NASCAR Now- ESPN's new NASCAR news and analysis show that began broadcasting in February 2007.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.