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MHSAA TV Serves Up Key TVC Match

October 4, 2017

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties 

A battle for control of the Tri-Valley Conference Central takes place today (Oct. 4) on MHSAA.tv when Freeland hosts Saginaw Swan Valley in girls volleyball at 7 p.m.

Swan Valley enters this week’s action 31-8-2 and ranked seventh in the latest Class B coaches poll. Freeland, which garnered honorable mention this week in the same poll, is 26-5-2 overall. Both teams are 3-0 in league play.

Freeland is one of more than 60 MHSAA member schools across the state participating in the

School Broadcast Program, and one of nearly a dozen schools to be streaming live video of its home athletic events using the NFHS Network’s Pixellot technology.

Pixellot is a unit equipped with four High Definition cameras which cover the length of the playing surface and then focus in on the ball and player movement to deliver the action. The unit communicates with the scoreboard to insert a time and score graphic on the screen. Ambient audio is picked up by the device, but the play-by-play of an in-person announce team can also be patched in. Freeland is one of several schools in the state using Pixellot in its gymnasium and at its football/multipurpose field.

In its ninth year, the School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events, with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. Pixellot is used by schools wishing to stream games but which lack the ability to staff the events. The SBP program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.

Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams being produced by SBP members:

Tuesday, October 3

Wednesday, October 4

Thursday, October 5

Friday, October 6

Monday, October 9

Tuesday, October 10

NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $9.95 per month. Subscribers will have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. All content becomes available for free, on- demand viewing 72 hours after being shown live. School Broadcast Program participants will also be selling Season and Annual Passes at a discounted rate. A portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.

A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.

Highlights of games produced in the past week by MHSAA School Broadcast Program members are in their fifth week. Featured events are in girls volleyball with Clarkston at Lake Orion, football with Lowell at Cedar Springs and football with Lansing Catholic at Fowlerville. Highlights can be found each week on the MHSAA.tv website, the home page of the MHSAA Website, and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube.

More than 15 football games are featured each week on the State Champs! Sports Network Extra Point – powered by the Michigan High School Athletic Association – Saturday at 10 a.m. on FOX Sports Detroit.

The half-hour program features highlights from more than a dozen games each week, including clips from games produced by MHSAA School Broadcast Program members. The program airs multiple times each weekend on FOX Sports Detroit and on Comcast Channel 900, and will be archived on the State Champs YouTube Channel. Consult your local listings for additional playback times.

Here are some of the games to be featured this week on State Champs! Extra Point:

  • Chelsea at Ypsilanti
  • Warren Mott at Romeo
  • Redford Union at Redford Thurston
  • Clarkston Everest at Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes
  • Warren Fitzgerald at Madison Heights Madison
  • Hudsonville at Caledonia
  • PLUS - Additional coverage from Grand Rapids, Lansing, Flint, Upper Peninsula and School Broadcast Program games.

The MHSAA also has a presence on other State Champs! Network programs throughout each weekend. The MHSAA Minute is a weekly part of the State Champs! High School Sports Show on FOX Sports Detroit at 9 a.m. every Sunday – with multiple replays on FOX Sports Detroit and Comcast Channel 900 throughout the week. That program also is archived on the State Champs YouTube Channel. Consult your local listings for additional playback times.

This week’s MHSAA Minute on State Champs talks about concussion protocols and the Association’s concussion insurance program.

The MHSAA also has content on the State Champs Scoreboard! High School Football Radio Show on Friday nights during the football and basketball seasons, originating on WXYT-FM (97.1) in Detroit and carried on more than 10 radio stations across the state. This Week In High School Sports and Be the Referee are weekly features on the program.

Pixellot Productions On Rise

September 19, 2018

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

A year ago, Pixellot – the automated production solution for schools wishing to stream live video of their athletic events on the NFHS Network and MHSAA.tv – was in use at six schools across Michigan.

With the new school year underway, nearly two dozen schools are actively streaming events using Pixellot, with half of those schools streaming indoor and outdoor events. Several schools have more than two Pixellot units in place.

“Schools are finding that Pixellot provides a great opportunity to get a lot of their games out to their fans in a way they could never achieve,” said Mark Uyl, executive director of the MHSAA.  “We have some schools which are using a mix of their traditional, student-staffed, School Broadcast Program efforts along with Pixellot to be able to add subvarsity coverage; and schools going exclusively with Pixellot with installations at multiple venues.”

Pixellot units use from two to four High Definition cameras that cover the length of the playing surface and then focus on the ball and player movement to deliver the action. The unit communicates with the scoreboard to insert a time and score graphic on the screen. Ambient audio is picked up by the device, but the commentary of the public address announcer or the radio style play-by-play of an in-person announcing team also can be patched in.

All that has to be done from a school’s perspective is type in the event schedule and promote the fact that the games are available on MHSAA.tv. Pixellot does the rest. The unit also can be set up to isolate a camera on a fixed location, which allows for activities like cheer and wrestling to be streamed.

Schools actively engaged in Pixellot productions now include: Ann Arbor Greenhills, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Brighton, Calumet, Dollar Bay, Frankenmuth, Freeland, Fremont, Grand Blanc, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, Harrison, Howell, Kalamazoo Christian, Macomb Lutheran North, Manchester, Norway, Novi, Otisville-LakeVille, Ovid-Elsie, Plainwell, Saginaw Heritage, Saline, Stevensville Lakeshore, Warren DeLaSalle and Williamston. Schools using indoor and outdoor units include Cranbrook Kingswood, Frankenmuth, Freeland, Grand Blanc, Howell, Manchester, Norway, Novi, Ovid-Elsie, Plainwell, Saginaw Heritage, Saline and Stevensville Lakeshore. Additional schools will have their Pixellot units coming online soon.

More than 70 percent of the programming taking place this week on MHSAA.tv will be Pixellot productions, featuring a football game Friday evening with two of the top-ranked Division 1 teams facing off for the top spot in the Saginaw Valley League’s Red division. Grand Blanc hosts Davison at 7 p.m. Both teams are 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play, tied with Lapeer for first place.

Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams being produced by School Broadcast Program members and the NFHS Network:

Tuesday - Sept. 18

Wednesday - Sept. 19 

Thursday - Sept. 20

Friday - Sept. 21

Saturday - Sept. 22

Monday - Sept. 24

Tuesday - Sept. 25

All sporting events – live or delayed - are available on a subscription basis only for their first 72 hours online. They become available for free, on-demand viewing approximately 72 hours following their completion.

NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $9.95 a month. Subscribers will have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. All content becomes available for free, on-demand viewing 72 hours after being shown live. School Broadcast Program participants also will be selling Season and Annual Passes at a discounted rate. A portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program. 

Highlights of games broadcast during the past week by MHSAA School Broadcast Program contributors feature a pair of close football contests – Marquette’s 36-35 overtime win over Escanaba and Howell topping Novi, 21-17 – and a volleyball match with Lake Orion defeating Oxford, 3-0.

Highlights can be found each week on the MHSAA.tv website, the home page of the MHSAA Website, and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube.

A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.