Mark Giangreco

Mark Giangreco is a famous for being the lead sports anchor and sports director for WLS-TV in Chicago. He has been with ABC for many years and also is a regular contributor to ESPN.

Background

Mark Giangreco was born on May 13, 1952 in Buffalo, New York. There is no information available about his parents and early childhood. He has two siblings in his family tree. His brother. Thomas Giangreco is a medical device consultant. His other brother, Pete Giangreco is a political consultant for the Democratic Party.

He studied at the private institution, Canisius High School and graduated in 1970. After high school, Mark enrolled into the University of Dayton in Ohio. He graduated in the 1974 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications.

Journalism Career

Mark began his journalism career during his college years. At first, he joined the WING-AM radio station in 1972 which was based in Dayton where he was studying for his college education. In 1977, he joined NBC in Dayton, where he worked for about a year. In 1978, he then left for another position at WLKY-TV based in Louisville, Kentucky. He worked there for about four years, during that time Mark served as a sports anchor and sports director. Afterwards, he moved to the WMAQ-TV channel in 1982, which was based in Chicago.

Being in Chicago for a long time, he found a new job at the ABC7 channel in 1994. Mark was an anchor of the popular sports segments. Currently, Mark works at WLS-TV channel as the sports director and lead sports anchor. In addition, Mark Giangreco is an ESPN Radio contributor. Mark also was a host for the New Year's Eve special segment "Countdown Chicago", alongside Janet Davies at the WLS-TV channel.

Mark is a very skilled and brilliant anchor, he is mostly known for his deadpan humor and witty delivery. Mark was suspended for one week without pay for a joke about the city of Detroit, after the Detroit Pistons won the NBA championship in 2004.

Award Winning Sports Journalist

During his years on the television airwaves, he has earned three Emmy Awards. He also has won two Associated Press Awards for Best Broadcast. Mark is the winner of Dante Award from the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans and Justinian Society of Italian Lawyers Award for journalism.

In 1982, after ten years of his rising career, he was honored with the Louisville Journalism Award for his excellence in sports reporting. In 1996, on Chicago Father’s Day Council, Mark became the “Father of the Year”. With years of experience under his belt, he also won the Iris Award from the National Association of Television Program Executives.

[page-break]

In an interview with Chicago Now, Mark spoke about his heroes in the sports journalism world and the awards he has won as a sports journalism. When asked who were his biggest influences in sports media, Mark said, “I think two of the greatest sportscaster machines I’ve ever met are Mike Tirico and Bob Costas. They’re absolutely perfect all the time; they’re able to crystallize their thoughts with everything. I just kind of fell into this.”

When Mark was younger, he had a different kind of inspiration that made him want to be a broadcaster, “My ultimate goal as a kid was to be a rock n roll DJ. I listened to all the big powerhouse radio stations on my little transistor radio, and I wanted to be Larry Lujack and John “Records” Landecker. Cars, girls and sports, just like every other guy- that was my goal. Then you know being a frustrated athlete and playing sports growing up, it kind of melded together and radio turned into television and 45 years later, here I am.”

Mark was awarded with the Ring Lardner Award recipient for Excellence in Sports Journalism at the Union League Club of Chicago. For comparison, winning the award is similar to a college football player winning the Heisman Trophy. It was a great honor for Mark to bring home the award, “I’ve been on the committee for a number of years, and I’m great at picking recipients and presenting. I feel a little awkward and humbled as a recipient myself. I look around the room with Don Pierson, Rick Telander, Phil Rogers, Fred Mitchell and being honored with Frank Deford, who’s one of the most iconic writers of all time, I really don’t know how I fit in. I think maybe they ran out of people.”

Even though Mark was humble when he heard that he would be the winner of the award, he still appreciates the praise very much from his peers, “I’m really honored and it’s kind of a surprise. I went to a Jesuit Prep school for high school, and the Jesuits taught you two things: how to write, and how to rebel. And that’s where I learned how to write. And that’s what this is all about so I appreciate that recognition.”

Personal Life

Mark likes to travel and enjoys winter sports like hockey. He also likes to browse classic sporty cars and modern art. He likes to cover all sports but winter sports are a favorite of his because he enjoys the cold weather.

He is a married man. He was dating his longtime girlfriend Cindy for a long time and they finally got married in the late 70s. His wife works as a doctor and he is proud to have a spouse in the medical field. The couple is blessed with three children. They are named Mark Junior, Christopher, and Matt.

Currently, he lives in Chicago with his family. They family lives happily together, without any rumors about their divorce. They have a stable family life because both parents are earning good money. They are able to provide their children with the best resources.

He earns a massive salary from his line of work but the exact total net worth of Mark Giangreco is unknown because he has decided to keep his financial details private and away from the public record.

Related Biographies