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 With roots extending
back to high school in the 1970’s, when he served as the stadium
announcer and team scorekeeper and statistician for Midland football and
basketball teams, Ellis Cannon has had successful careers in sports
broadcasting and publishing for over a decade, emerging as one of
the region’s most respected, knowledgeable and entertaining sports
personalities.
Following a career in civil trial litigation and partnership in the
downtown Pittsburgh law firm of Robb, Leonard & Mulvihill, Ellis co-founded the
Pittsburgh Sports Report in 1996 with his
brother, Henry, and has served as its publisher since inception.
Pittsburgh Sports Report is the most successful sports-only
publication in Pittsburgh history, winning five Golden Quill Awards,
recognizing excellence in journalism. Since its creation in 2004,
Ellis has also been the publisher of KidSPORTS Magazine, A
Parent’s Guide For The Young Athlete.
Between 2004-2010, Ellis served as the weeknight host of the highly-popular "Ellis
Cannon's Sportsline Pittsburgh" radio show on WPGB-FM, believed to
be the first sports-talk on a local FM station in at least a
quarter-century, while also producing on-air, drive-time sports
reports and commentaries. Ellis’s show was the only daily
sports program in the station’s political newstalk format and was
consistently rated as the top evening talk show in the Pittsburgh
market and among the top overall rated broadcasts in his time slot.
In recognition, Ellis received numerous honors, including as a
multi-year recipient of annual Pittsburgh A.I.R. Awards for
Achievement in Radio ("Best Evening Show on a News Talk, Personality
or Sports Station", "Best Sports Reporter" and "Best Sports Coverage
Reporting").
Ellis was an on-air member of the Pittsburgh
Steelers Football Network between 2004-2010, serving as the network gameday anchor and host of all Steelers’ network pre-game, halftime
and post-game coverage. He was also a member of the on-air broadcast
offering in-game updates and analysis and covered the Steelers in
Super Bowl XL and XLIII. Excerpts of Ellis’s in-game comments
during Super Bowl XLIII were included in the game’s official NFL
Films DVD. He also hosted several Pittsburgh Steelers players' radio
shows through the years.
Beginning in 2007, Ellis’s evening
radio program served regularly as the lead-in to the Pittsburgh
Pirates Radio Network and game broadcasts. He also appeared as a
daily sports commentator on WDVE-FM (2004-2010). Ellis
previously served as a sports anchor for Pittsburgh’s Fox Sports
Radio 970 (WBGG-AM, 2004-2006) and hosted numerous programs at
Pittsburgh’s ESPN Radio 1250 (WEAE-AM, predecessors), including, "The Pittsburgh Sports Report with Ellis Cannon" (2001-2004),
"The
Pittsburgh Sports Report with The Cannon Brothers" (1998-2001) and
others dedicated to the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, MLB, Pittsburgh
Penguins and professional golf. He has also covered NFL Drafts,
Stanley Cup playoffs and the 2007 U.S. Open.
Ellis has
appeared extensively on local and national television for many years
in various capacities, including as a sports/sports law/ expert,
commentator, panelist, host and/or analyst, on the Fox News Channel
and other national cable networks (Court TV, MSNBC), the #1 Cochran
Sports Showdown (KDKA-TV) and Steelers Saturday Night (Pittsburgh’s
CW). Ellis has also engaged in speaking, hosting and
appearances for several local, regional and national companies such
as ATT and Nissan and charitable organizations, including United Way
of Allegheny County and the Myasthenia Gravis Association of Western
Pennsylvania.
Ellis and Yvonne Cannon have been married since 1985
and have three sons, Ellis II, Michael and Joseph. He is a 1977
graduate of Lincoln High School in Midland and received his B.A. and
J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh (1977, 1984). Ellis is the
son of Henry and Betsy Cannon and brother of Priscilla, Henry and
Sarah. |
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