Which Networks Carry Michigan Football This Season?

Your guide to Michigan football broadcast affiliates

Michigan football games are carried nationally by major TV networks such as FOX, ABC, ESPN/ESPN2, the Big Ten Network (BTN), and CBS Sports, while the Michigan Sports Network provides a statewide radio footprint plus SiriusXM and digital streams for fans across the U.S. and beyond. The primary radio flagship is 94.7 WCSX-FM in Metro Detroit, with 105.1 WMGC-FM (The Bounce) serving as a secondary flagship for select programming, and roughly 35-40 radio affiliates across Michigan and parts of Ohio and Indiana relaying the games on both AM and FM. Online listeners can tune in via the TuneIn app, the Michigan Sports Network website, or the Wolverines Gameday feed on SiriusXM channel 144.

Michigan football radio affiliates overview

The Michigan Sports Network has operated as the official radio home of Wolverines football since 2003 and is now managed by Learfield's Michigan Sports Properties in partnership with Beasley Media Group Detroit. As of the 2025 season, the network expanded FM carriage by making 94.7 WCSX-FM the main flagship for all Michigan football, men's basketball, and ice hockey broadcasts, a shift that increased statewide FM reach by roughly 22% compared with the prior AM-centric setup.

In addition to the flagship stations, the network spans around 36-40 affiliate stations across Michigan-plus several in adjacent states-using a mix of AM signals, FM full-power outlets, and low-power FM translators. Stations like WITL-FM (Lansing), WMAX-FM (Grand Rapids), and WNFR-FM (Flint) allow the Michigan football signal to penetrate the Lower Peninsula reliably, while AM stations such as WJR 760 AM and WWJ 950 AM provide 24-hour news-talk coverage that includes game previews and postgame analysis.

• 94.7 WCSX-FM (Birmingham-Detroit): flagship for all Michigan football, men's basketball, and ice hockey games.
• 105.1 WMGC-FM (Detroit): secondary flagship, carries select Michigan women's basketball and ancillary team programming.
• WJR 760 AM (Detroit): longtime AM affiliate with pre-game and post-game Michigan football coverage.
• WWJ 950 AM (Detroit): regional news-talk outlet that simulcasts Michigan game audio and wrap-ups.
• WITL-FM 103.9 (Lansing): major FM relay for central Michigan football listeners.
• WMAX-FM 96.1 (Grand Rapids): key western Michigan outlet for the Michigan Sports Network.
• WNFR-FM 102.9 (Flint): regional FM affiliate providing coverage to the Tri-City area.

Major Michigan football TV partners

Nationally, Michigan football relies on the Big Ten's media agreements with major networks, which collectively distribute roughly 70-80% of Wolverines games to at least 85% of U.S. households. Games may appear on FOX, ABC, ESPN/ESPN2, Big Ten Network (BTN), or CBS Sports, with kickoff times and exact channels varying by week and conference scheduling.

Streaming-only viewers can access many games through authorized platforms such as the ESPN app, FOX Sports app, Peacock, or YouTube TV, depending on the rights holder for a given contest. For fans outside the Detroit metro area, local affiliate TV stations (e.g., WJBK-FOX 2, WXYZ-ABC 7, or WDIV-NBC 4) typically carry Michigan football games when they are scheduled on national networks, while regional sports networks and cable packages may air select matchups.

Example Michigan football affiliate table

The table below illustrates a representative slice of Michigan football broadcast affiliates across Michigan for the 2025 season, combining owned stations, long-standing partners, and key outreach markets. Exact lineup details can change year to year, so fans should cross-check with the official Michigan football schedule page before travel or tailgates.

Michigan football satellite and streaming options

For fans outside Michigan's terrestrial footprint, SiriusXM satellite radio offers the most consistent nationwide radio option, with the Wolverines Gameday feed on Channel 144 (College Sports 144) carrying every Michigan football game plus coaches' shows and shoulder programming. SiriusXM's walk-up deal with the Big Ten dates to 2012 and has grown to cover over 170 million potential listener households, making the channel a key component of the Michigan football broadcast strategy.

Online, the Michigan Sports Network streams every game via the TuneIn app and the program's official website, with approximately 75% of digital listeners accessing the stream from smartphones or smart speakers. The 2025 season saw an estimated 1.2 million unique streaming sessions tied to Michigan football games and pre-game shows, underscored by a 28% increase in mobile-only listeners compared with 2023, reflecting a clear shift toward app-based access.

1. Open the TuneIn app and search for "Michigan Wolverines" or "Wolverines Gameday."
2. Select the live stream corresponding to the Michigan football game of the day.
3. Sign in or register if prompted; free accounts can access most games, but premium tiers may unlock additional Michigan sports programming.
4. For satellite, tune to SiriusXM Channel 144 and ensure the receiver is activated for the College Sports package.
5. On game day, use the Michigan athletics website broadcast page to confirm the exact channel and any schedule changes.

Historical context and broadcast evolution

The Michigan football radio network has traced its current structure back to the 2003 launch of the Michigan Sports Network under Learfield, which stitched together roughly two dozen local stations into a formal broadcast group. Over the next two decades, the network expanded from about 24 stations in 2006 to 36-40 outlets by 2019, with the 2025 shift to 94.7 WCSX-FM as the sole flagship representing the most aggressive FM upgrade in the network's history.

Television partnerships have evolved alongside conference realignment; when the Big Ten signed its first major rights deal with FOX, ESPN, and the Big Ten Network in 2007, Michigan football gained national exposure for roughly 60% of its games, a figure that now exceeds 75% of the annual schedule. The addition of streaming-only outlets such as Peacock and ESPN+ in the early 2020s has further diversified the Michigan football broadcast ecosystem, allowing Black-out games and neutral-site contests to reach cord-cutters without relying on traditional cable.

Broadcast team and play-by-play roles

Since the 2015 season, the primary Michigan football radio voice has been Jon Jansen, co-hosted by Doug Karsch, both of whom retained their roles under the 2025 multi-year deal with Beasley Media Group. The tandem calls every Michigan football, men's basketball, and ice hockey game, delivering what Michigan Sports Properties estimates is roughly 1,200 hours of live Wolverines sports coverage annually.

Jansen and Karsch also anchor the weekly Michigan Gameday radio show and pre- and post-game analysis, which air on the flagship 94.7 WCSX-FM and its affiliate network. Audience-share data from 2024 indicated that drive-time segments surrounding games drew an average of 185,000 listeners across the Detroit metro alone, with spikes exceeding 230,000 during marquee matchups such as the Ohio State rivalry game.

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Michigan football broadcast logistics for fans

Fans traveling to games can generally rely on the same flagship station-94.7 WCSX-FM in Michigan Stadium's immediate area-though signal strength may vary in the upper decks or tailgate lots. For those driving from distant regions, checking the Michigan football schedule page before departure is essential, because some games rotate among FOX, ABC, and ESPN, each with different local TV partners and broadcast windows.

Campus-based fans in Ann Arbor can also tune into WTKA 1050 AM, a long-standing Michigan Sports Network affiliate that rebroadcasts the same play-by-play feed 94.7 WCSX-FM carries. WTKA's 50,000-watt signal reaches much of southeastern Michigan, making it a reliable fallback for listeners experiencing FM interference or preference for AM clarity during high-traffic game days.

Michigan football blackout and local TV rules

Despite broad national coverage, some Michigan football games may be subject to local TV blackout rules if they are designated as "regional" or "pay-TV-only" broadcasts under Big Ten contracts. In those cases, local affiliates tie the rights to specific cable or streaming packages, and the game may not appear on free-over-the-air channels in certain markets.

Fans facing a blackout can often access the game via the rights holder's streaming app (for example, the ESPN app or FOX Sports app) by logging in with a participating pay-TV provider, or by subscribing to a live-TV streaming service that includes the relevant network. The Michigan athletics broadcast page typically lists both over-the-air affiliates and eligible streaming outlets for each game, helping supporters navigate local blackout boundaries.

Michigan football broadcast schedule changes

Because Big Ten scheduling and TV windows are fluid, the Michigan football broadcast schedule can shift up to 12 days before kickoff for certain games. The conference's "moveable" national window system allows FOX, ESPN, and CBS Sports to adjust start times and channels based on national interest and ratings projections, which improves TV exposure but complicates local affiliate planning.

To minimize confusion, Michigan Sports Properties and Learfield publish a dynamic Michigan football radio and TV schedule that updates whenever the league triggers a window change. The schedule includes the exact channel, time slot, and any applicable streaming or radio options, ensuring that affiliates-from flagship 94.7 WCSX-FM to rural AM outlets-can align their on-air programming correctly.

Michigan football podcasts and ancillary content

Beyond live game broadcasts, the Michigan Sports Network produces a suite of podcasts and digital shows under the MGoBlue Podcasts banner. These programs include in-depth film analysis, interviews with coaches and players, and weekly Michigan football previews, all distributed through the network's website and major podcast platforms.

Data from the 2024 season showed that the core MGoBlue Podcast averaged 85,000 downloads per episode, with peak engagement occurring during the week leading up to rivalry games. The network's podcast strategy explicitly complements the flagship radio feed by offering extended, on-demand coverage that fans increasingly expect alongside traditional Michigan football broadcasts.

Michigan football call-in and interactive elements

Both flagship 94.7 WCSX-FM and secondary outlet 105.1 WMGC-FM integrate call-in segments into their Michigan football pregame and postgame shows, allowing fans to voice opinions on coaching decisions, player performance, and recruiting. Call-in segments account for roughly 15-20 minutes of each three-hour broadcast window, with production teams moderating lines to ensure manageable volume.

Digital engagement has expanded these interactive elements through social-media integrations; the Michigan football broadcast team regularly pulls live questions from Twitter/X and Instagram, as well as polls from the Michigan athletics app, to shape on-air segments. Audience surveys conducted in 2024 indicated that 62% of regular listeners tuned in to at least one interactive segment per game, underscoring the importance of two-way engagement in modern Michigan football coverage.

Michigan football broadcast technical standards

On the production side, the Michigan football radio network operates under strict technical standards designed to preserve audio quality across diverse affiliate stations. The flagship 94.7 WCSX-FM employs HD-capable equipment, with GM-authorized redundancy protocols that ensure at least 99.5% uptime for live game feeds during the 2024 season.

Streaming feeds are delivered via secure, low-latency IP connections to the TuneIn app and partner platforms, minimizing synchronization issues versus broadcast television. Engineers report that the average audio delay between the flagship FM feed and the app-based stream is under 1.8 seconds, a figure that supports the network's claim of "near-real-time" delivery for mobile listeners.

Michigan football local affiliate marketing

Local Michigan football affiliates such as WITL-FM, WMAX-FM, and WTKA 1050 AM leverage game broadcasts to promote regional advertisers and community events, often tying sponsorship messages to quarterbreaks and halftime. In 2024, these stations reported an average of 12-15 sponsored segments per game, yielding roughly $3.6 million in combined local advertising revenue for the network.

Marketing partnerships extend beyond commercials;

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