Frank Beckmann

File:Frank Beckmann at 2012 Victors Classic.jpg

Beckmann at the University of Michigan's Victors Classic alumni football game in 2012.

Frank Carl Beckmann (born June 28, 1949) is an American broadcaster who is currently a talk radio host on WJR in Detroit, Michigan. He also was the radio play-by-play announcer for University of Michigan football from 1981 to 2013. Frank Beckmann was awarded a Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa from Northwood University in May 2012.

Early life

Beckmann, a Michigan native, attended Cousino High School in Warren, Michigan. His family moved to Warren so that Beckmann could attend a school that had a student radio station.

Broadcast career

Beckmann was the radio play-by-play announcer for University of Michigan football from 1981 (when he succeeded Bob Ufer in the role) to 2013, and has hosted a daily weekday talk show on WJR in Detroit since 2004. Beckmann, who began his sportscasting career in 1969, was also an announcer for the Detroit Lions (1979-1988) and Detroit Tigers (1995-2003) and served as WJR's sports director for several years. He also hosted Sportswrap, one of the first all-sports talk shows in the nation, on WJR in the early 1980s.

He has been honored with “Top Michigan Sportscaster” awards by the Associated Press and United Press International and “Michigan Sportscaster of the Year” by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Beckmann won the 2010 Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association Ty Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting and received the award in a special halftime press box ceremony at the University of Michigan football stadium. He was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 for his accomplishments in sports broadcasting.

Political activism

In 2011, Beckmann considered a campaign for the United States Senate seat occupied by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, but said that the need to register as a Republican and quit his broadcasting positions made him decide against a candidacy. He is generally supportive of conservative and free market views, and lists himself as a supporting member of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.