Hoosiers Now

Indiana-Michigan State Broadcast Sets Ratings Record for FS1

A big-time Big Ten showdown between Indiana and Michigan State called by legends Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery was the highest-rated game ever on Fox's secondary channel, with 811,000 viewers.

Tom Brew

Indiana-Michigan State Broadcast Sets Ratings Record for FS1
Indiana-Michigan State Broadcast Sets Ratings Record for FS1 /

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — When two of the Big Ten's most iconic programs get together for a huge game that really matters, you expect plenty of eyeballs to tune it.

That's exactly what happened Thursday, According to Fox Sports, Thursday night's game against Michigan State and Indiana was the highest-ranked college basketball game in Fox Sports 1 history.

Ratings show that 811,000 viewers tuned in on Fox's secondary channel. That was the best ever, a sure sign that the network is benefiting from its TV contracts with the Big Ten, the most-watched league in the country.  The game was broadcast by Fox's best college basketball crew, the venerable Gus Johnson and legendary analyst Bill Raftery.

The previous record was 692,000 for a Michigan-Iowa game earlier this year. That's a 17 percent jump to the new record for Indiana and Michigan State.

Michigan State came into that game ranked No. 11 in the country and had a two-game lead in the Big Ten. But Indiana got off to a great start and then hung on to win 67-63 to pull within a game of the conference lead.

Indiana is still undefeated at home in the Big Ten, and plays at home again on Sunday against No. 17-ranked Maryland. To read our Sports Illustrated Indiana preview of the game, CLICK HERE. Sunday's game is being televised nationally by CBS, and it starts at 1 p.m. ET. 

Fox Sports 1 wasn't the only one that got great traffic from that huge conference game. The coverage of that game on Sports Illustrated Indiana was also the No. 1-ranked game stories ever on the website.

If you haven't read it, here's the game story from Indiana-Michigan State. CLICK HERE

And here's Tom Brew's column on how Indiana coach Archie Miller is hitting all the right buttons with his Hoosiers team right now. CLICK HERE

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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as a reporter and editor, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the Indianapolis Star and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered college sports in the digital platform for the past six years, including the last five years as publisher of HoosiersNow on the FanNation/Sports Illustrated network.

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