Dan Ponce (born December 7, 1976 in Illinois) is a Chicago television journalist for

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...

, radio talk show host on

WLS-AM WLS (890 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Cumulus Media, through licensee Radio License Holdings LLC, the station airs a talk radio format. WLS has its radio studios in the NBC Tower on North Columbus Drive i ...

(890) and founder of the

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

group Straight No Chaser.

Career and background

Ponce's TV career began in 2005 when he was hired at

WILX-TV WILX-TV (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Onondaga, Michigan, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Lansing area. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on American Road (near I-96) in Lansing, and i ...

in Lansing, Michigan, as a reporter and weekend anchor. In 2006, Dan joined ABC-owned

WLS-TV WLS-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on North State S ...

(channel 7) in Chicago as a general assignment reporter. 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. SNC went on to perform hundreds of concerts throughout the country and record three more albums on the

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

label. The group's televised concert series "Live in New York" (produced by WTTW) aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

stations coast to coast. Ponce later came back to a TV career and was hired by WGN-TV . His father is

Phil Ponce Phil Ponce (born September 26, 1949) is an American journalist and television presenter. Ponce is notable as a Chicago television journalist who hosts ''Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices'', a weekly television magazine of news and culture in Chicago' ...

, a Chicago television journalist who hosts ''

Chicago Tonight ''Chicago Tonight'' is a television news program broadcast weeknights on WTTW in Chicago. It reports primarily on local politics, education, business, culture, science and health, with a mix of in-studio panel discussions, one-on-one interviews ...

''. Ponce earned his master's degree from the

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and his bachelor's degree from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, where he founded Straight No Chaser. Dan grew up in

Wilmette Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...

and currently lives in Chicago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponce, Dan Living people American television reporters and correspondents Medill School of Journalism alumni Indiana University alumni American male journalists 1976 births