Rich Chrampanis has been the sports director at WPDE-TV since 2000.
In addition to anchoring the Monday through Friday sportcasts on NewsChannel 15, Rich has created and produced extensive local sports programming. Rich is the executive producer and host of the David Bennett Show and the Cliff Ellis Show spotlighting Coastal Carolina football and basketball. High school football is the foundation of WPDE Sports' commitment to local sports, with the Chevy End Zone and the WPDE Zoneman Trophy. In 2009, Rich was honored by the South Carolina HS football coaches with a distiguished service award.
Rich says the most gratifying part of his job is seeing athletes develop in our backyard and go on to major college programs and star in professional sports. The WPDE All Zone team has produced over a dozen NFL players and the Hoop Zone banquet has seen two NBA stars in Raymond Felton of the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Ramon Sessions. Five different CCU football players have gone to the NFL and Dustin Johnson has gone from CCU golf to the top of the PGA Tour.
A 1992 graduate of St. Bonaventure University, Rich began his television career at WCBS-TV as a full time producer in the #1 market. After stints as sports director in Kirksville, Missouri and Bangor, Maine, Rich arrived at WPDE in February of 2000. While in Maine, Chrampanis co-authored the book Return to Glory based on the University of Maine's 1999 national championship in men's ice hockey and hosted Maine Hockey Monthly, which won a state AP first place award for best sports program.
Chrampanis has captured two prestigious Edward R. Murrow Awards for documentaries, including "The Truth: The Raymond Felton Story".
Rich has teamed with chief meteorologist Ed Piotrowski to create the WPDE Sports Scholarship Fund. Thanks to an annual charity golf tournament, $100,000 has been raised for area high school seniors.
Rich and his wife Dianne live in Myrtle Beach with son Luke and daughter Carly.
WPDE SPORTS PROGRAMMING
CLIFF ELLIS SHOW: 30 minutes highlighting CCU basketball (January through March)
http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/content.aspx?id=221632
SIGNING DAY: 30 minute special celebrating area high school football players signing to play college football (February)
http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/story.aspx?id=575612
HOOP ZONE BANQUET: 30 minute special honor area high school basketball players and awarding Mr. and Miss Hoop Zone (March)
http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/story.aspx?id=428740
SOUTHERN 500 PREVIEW SPECIAL: 30 minute special looking ahead to Darlington's NASCAR race (May)
CAMP BENNETT: All Access at CCU Training Camp - a four part documentary series at CCU football training camp (August)
-Episode 1: http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/story.aspx?list=195125&id=493913
-Episode 2: http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/story.aspx?list=195125&id=497151
-Episode 3: http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/story.aspx?list=195125&id=500271
-Episode 4 (Final episode): http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/story.aspx?list=195125&id=502821
DAVID BENNETT SHOW: 30 minutes highlighting CCU football (September through November)
http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/content.aspx?id=180012
CHEVY END ZONE PREVIEW: 60 minute preview featuring every high school team in our area (August)
CHEVY END ZONE: 50 minutes of high school football on Friday nights (August through November)
http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/football/default.aspx
CHEVY END ZONE BANQUET: 60 minute special honoring area high school football players and awarding the Zoneman Trophy (December)
http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/content.aspx?id=236079
NORTH SOUTH/MR. FOOTBALL SPECIAL: 30 minute special featuring highlights of All-Star football game and the awarding of South Carolina's Mister Football (December) http://www.carolinalive.com/sports/content.aspx?id=390539
