Mark Giangreco

Background

Giangreco was born in Buffalo, New York, where he attended Canisius High School and graduated in 1970.

Education

After graduating, he attended the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. He graduated in 1974.

Career

Giangreco currently anchors the sports segment on ABC7 during the 5pm and 10pm newscasts. In college, he began his broadcasting career on radio. The university considers him to be an honorary alumnus.

His first news job was at a local National Broadcasting Company station in Dayton, Ohio.

Giangreco was employed there for less than a year when in 1978, he moved to Louisville, Kentucky. After only four years in Louisville, he moved to Chicago to work for WMAQ-television There he stayed from 1982 to 1994 when he joined ABC7 in Chicago and has been there ever since.

In addition to anchoring the sports segments on the weekly newscasts, Giangreco hosts ABC7"s New Year"s Eve special segment, "Countdown Chicago", alongside Janet Davies. Giangreco’s brothers, Thomas Giangreco is a medical supply salesman in Buffalo, New York and Pete Giangreco, is a Democratic Party political consultant who has worked on seven presidential campaigns, including the 2008 presidential campaign for then-Senator Barack Obama.

Mark Giangreco himself donated $1,500 to the Obama campaign.

Achievements

• Giangreco has won three Emmy Awards. He has also been honored with the prestigious Iris Award from the National Association of Television Program Executives. He has won two Peter Lisagor Awards and two Associated Press Awards for "Best Sportscast." In 1996, the Chicago Father"s Day Council named Giangreco "Father of the Year," and in 1995, he won the Dante Award from the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans and the Justinian Society of Italian Lawyers Award for journalism. Giangreco was also honored in 1982 with the Louisville Journalism Award for his excellence in sports reporting. In 2004, Giangreco was suspended one week without pay for a joke on the city of Detroit, Michigan after the Detroit Pistons won the National Basketball Association championship. The joke consisted of a black-and-white movie clip of a city burning and said it was a "typical night for Detroit." Immediately following the clip, Giangreco said he was just kidding. Many who were deeply offended said his actions were racist, but he is known for his sarcasm and humor and some believe the joke was made in good jest.