Dan Ponce (born December 7, 1976, in Denver, Colorado) is an American television journalist for WGN-TV, radio talk show host on WLS/890[1] and founder of the a cappella group Straight No Chaser.[2]

Career and background

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Ponce's TV career began in 2005 when he was hired at WILX-TV in Lansing, Michigan, as a reporter and weekend anchor. In 2006, Dan joined ABC-owned WLS-TV (channel 7) in Chicago as a general assignment reporter.[3]

In 2009, after Straight No Chaser's album "Holiday Spirits" went to #1 on iTunes and Amazon, Ponce decided to leave ABC and join the group full-time.[4] SNC went on to perform hundreds of concerts throughout the country and record three more albums on the Atlantic Records label.[citation needed] The group's televised concert series "Live in New York" (produced by WTTW) aired on PBS stations coast to coast. Ponce later came back to a TV career and was hired by WGN-TV {Channel 9}.[citation needed]

His father is Phil Ponce, a Chicago television journalist who hosts Chicago Tonight.[5]

Ponce earned his master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and his bachelor's degree from Indiana University, where he founded Straight No Chaser. Dan grew up in Wilmette and currently[when?] lives in Chicago.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "WLS adds Ponce Brothers to weekend talk show lineup". Time Out Chicago. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  2. ^ "WGN-TV". Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Dan Ponce | WLS News Team". Archived from the original on 2010-09-24. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  4. ^ Rapkin, Mickey (3 October 2008). "A Cappella Dreaming: 10 Voices, One Shot". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "About Us". Chicago Tonight - WTTW. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Ponces Duel: News at 10". northwestern.edu. Retrieved 3 June 2015.