Dan Ponce is a Chicago television journalist for WGN-TV

WGN-TV

WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...

 and founder of the renowned a cappella group Straight No Chaser.

Career and background

His TV career began in 2005 when Dan was hired at WILX-TV

WILX-TV

WILX-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Michigan. Licensed to the nearby town of Onondaga, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 4 in Lansing, and Comcast channel 10 in East Lansing and Jackson. It can...

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

WLS-TV

WLS-TV, virtual channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The station operates their full power digital operations on UHF channel 44, with their digital fill-in translator on VHF channel...

 (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, Dan 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 Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

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

Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 stations coast to coast.

Dan’s father is Phil Ponce

Phil Ponce

Phil Ponce is a Chicago television journalist who hosts Chicago Tonight, a nightly television magazine of news and culture on WTTW 11.Ponce grew up in East Chicago, Indiana, and graduated from Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond. He then attended Indiana University and received a B.A. in English in...

, a Chicago television journalist who hosts Chicago Tonight

Chicago Tonight

Chicago Tonight is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on WTTW in Chicago. Chicago Tonight reports primarily on local news and presents features showcasing local artists and events. The show started in 1984 and for 15 years popular Chicago broadcast journalist John Callaway...

, a nightly television magazine of news and culture on PBS member station WTTW

WTTW

WTTW channel 11 is one of three Public Broadcasting Service member public television stations serving the Chicago, Illinois market; the others are WYCC and WYIN. WTTW began broadcasting on September 6, 1955 and it is owned and operated by Window to the World Communications, Inc., a not-for-profit...

 (channel 11). Dan’s brother is Anthony Ponce, a general assignment reporter for NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

-owned WMAQ-TV

WMAQ-TV

WMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...

 (channel 5) in Chicago.

Dan earned his Master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism

Medill School of Journalism

The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University which offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It has consistently been one of the top-ranked schools in Journalism in the United States...

 at Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 and his Bachelor's degree from Indiana University

Indiana University

Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

 - where he founded Straight No Chaser. Dan grew up in Wilmette and currently lives in Chicago.