Michigan's remote position in the interior of the continent hampered the development of adequate communications services, and the first regular postal service was not instituted until the early 19th century.
Telephone service began in Detroit in 1877. By 2001, 94.7% of the occupied housing units in the state had telephones.
Michigan had 63 major AM radio stations and 168 major FM stations in 2003. Radio station WWJ, originally owned by the Detroit News, began operating in 1920 as one of the country's first commercial broadcasting stations, and the News also started Michigan's first television station in 1947. As of 2003 there were 33 major television stations in the state. In the Detroit area, 68% of 1,855,500 television households had cable, and in the Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek area, 62% of 671,320 television households had cable.
By 2000, a total of 145,596 Internet domain names had been registered in Michigan.