WGN’s Dave Eanet Named IBA’s 2025 “Chicago W. Russell Withers Jr. Broadcast Pioneer.”

The Northwestern University Alum Joined WGN in 1984

Dave Eanet, whose two stints on WGN Radio encompass more than 30 years, has been named IBA’s (Illinois Broadcasters Association’s) 2025 Chicago/W. Russell Withers Jr. Broadcast Pioneer.

Eanet is the voice of the Northwestern Wildcat football and men’s basketball as well as serving as a fill-in anchor on the WGN-TV sports desk.  He is a respected voice in college athletics and has been synonymous with Northwestern football radio broadcasts since 1990.

The Northwestern University alum first joined WGN Radio as the morning sports anchor in 1984 and was part of the Chicago Bears WGN Radio team until 1988. He returned to the station in 1996 as sports director when WGN Radio became the rightsholder for Northwestern University Athletics and Eanet added men’s basketball play-by-play to his resume. Eanet also filled in on play-by-play for Chicago Cubs broadcasts on WGN Radio in the late 1990s through early 2000s.

Eanet has consistently earned recognition throughout his career, receiving multiple honors as a leading sportscaster and for excellence in play-by-play from the Illinois Broadcasters Association, Chicago Headline Club and Associated Press. He was named a 2005 honorary inductee into the Northwestern University Athletics Hall of Fame and the 2011 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

“Dave Eanet has been a cherished voice on WGN Radio for nearly three consecutive decades,” says WGN Radio VP/GM Mary Boyle. “From his weekday morning sportscasts to his superior play-by-play for Northwestern and as a fill-in sports anchor on WGN-TV, his remarkable work has been a mainstay for our audiences every day.”

Eanet will receive the award, named after the late W. Russell Withers Jr, founding father of the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation, at the association’s Chicago Silver Dome Awards Gala Dinner, November 6^th, at the InterContinental Hotel. Tickets for the event can be purchased here.