Michigan Regional Sports Networks on Cable TV

Across Michigan, customers deciding upon a cable package need to know—which regional sports networks are available, and do they cover the teams I follow? Whether you’re in Kalamazoo and straddle the Chicago and Detroit pro sports markets, or up in Saginaw following all the Detroit teams, you’ll find the channels you’re looking for with Spectrum cable TV.

Throughout Michigan, one constant is FSN Detroit. Whether you’re in Saginaw or Detroit proper, you can stay up to date with live broadcasts and bonus programming covering the Detroit Pistons of the NBA, the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL, and Major League Baseball from the Detroit Tigers. In towns closer to the Chicago market, like Kalamazoo, you also get NBC Sports Chicago, which offers live broadcasts of the Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Bulls.

In some areas you may also be able to catch some Wisconsin based sports programming.

Beyond the pro sports covered by FSN Detroit, also known as Fox Sports Detroit, you’ll also want to make sure you have the ESPN family of networks, the Big Ten Network, and other sports-related channels to be sure you can see Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans football and basketball, as well as coverage of those schools’ rivals in surrounding states. Whether pro basketball or college football is your first love, you’ll find the coverage you’re looking for with Spectrum cable TV in Michigan.

Check back often at the TV, Internet, and Phone Blog for your local and regional sports listings, where to find your favorite teams on cable TV, and more, including ratings of high speed internet services and news related to the industry.

World Series Ratings a Concern for Major League Baseball

Before Sunday’s clinching game, when the San Francisco Giants closed out the World Series in sweeping the Detroit Tigers four games to none to win their second title in three years, this World Series had been the lowest-rated ever, according to USA Today. Final numbers for the last game are not yet calculated, but seeing as it was going up against Sunday Night Football on NBC, normally the most highly-watched program of the week, things are not looking good for what was once America’s pastime.

This is not a new trend. The past seven years have brought the seven lowest-rated World Series; even so, MLB TV rights have been secured for the next eight years with Fox for broadcast television and TBS and ESPN on cable TV. Some are presupposing that the low ratings are due to the lack of a major moneymaker franchise in the mix, like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox or Chicago Cubs, but the series does not lack in star power; the likely MVPs for each league, San Francisco’s catcher Buster Posey and Detroit third baseman Miguel Cabrera were both present in this series, as well as American League Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander. The ratings would likely have been higher had the Yankees or Sox been involved, but it’s more of an indication of a complete shift in sports loyalty by many Americans: football is now the favorite sport to watch in America, bar none.

Why has football taken over? Fantasy football and gambling are the major reasons, but also there are only 16 games a year per team, compared to 162 for baseball, allowing each game to be presented as an event. By the time the World Series rolls around, many sports fans have baseball fatigue; and if your team’s not in, why continue to watch, especially when football’s on?