Mark Schanowski, a familiar Chicago media presence, is poised to contribute to ABC-7’s sports department, which has been down a body since the station’s divorce from Mark Giangreco earlier this year.
A station spokeswoman said Thursday that Schanowski will work on a per-diem basis as a sports anchor and reporter beginning May 29.
Giangreco’s January on-air jest involving newscaster Cheryl Burton proved a tripwire that ultimately led to a negotiated exit after 26 years at the station, plus nondisclosure agreements all around.
The Mark-for-Mark move represents a homecoming for Schanowski, who was an ABC-7 sportscaster from 1990-98 before a 1998-2006 run at NBC-5 that segued to a lengthy hitch with NBC Sports Chicago (originally known as Comcast SportsNet Chicago).
A University of Wisconsin alumnus, Schanowski previously worked at television stations in Milwaukee and Champaign.
Schanowski’s NBC Sports Chicago work is best remembered as a longtime pregame, halftime and postgame host for Bulls basketball.
More recently, Schanowski and Bulls TV analyst Stacey King have collaborated on a podcast, “Gimme the Hot Sauce,” and he’s done some part-time work for Stadium, a multiplatform, Chicago-based sports media outfit.
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