WRC sports anchor Hakem Dermish is leaving the NBC O&O to join ESPN, a station spokesperson confirmed to TVSpy.

Dermish signed off from WRC last night after five years at the Washington, DC station. Prior to joining WRC, Dermish worked at WTVG in Toledo and WLUC in Marquette, MI.

News of the ESPN hire was first reported by dcrtv.com.

Dermish will join former WRC colleague Lindsay Czarniak at ESPN. A spokesperson for WRC said the station is committed to local sports coverage and actively looking to fill the two open sports anchor positions.