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MHSAA Winter Tournaments to Begin Busy Run of Streaming, Radio Broadcasts

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 18, 2021

More than 150 games in the District rounds of the Michigan High School Athletic Association Girls and Boys Basketball Tournaments next week will have live streaming video on the NFHS Network and MHSAA.tv.

Girls Basketball Districts begin Monday, March 22, with Boys Basketball Districts tipping off March 23. Games will be produced by MHSAA member schools participating in the School Broadcast Program, either with traditional student crews or by Pixellot, the NFHS Network’s automated production solution.

The broadcast schedules for the District Semifinals and Finals will be released the day before those rounds. You can always reach a list of the upcoming tournament games to be streamed by Clicking Here.
 
The MHSAA Finals for Competitive Cheer, Gymnastics, Ice Hockey, and Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving will also be available on the NFHS Network:

► Competitive Cheer is March 26-27 from the Breslin Center in East Lansing. Stacy Smith and Genna Rose will be the broadcasters for the Cheer Finals.

► Gymnastics is March 26 (team) and 27 (individual) from Rockford High School, with Renae Weaver on the call.

► Ice Hockey Semifinals are March 25-26 at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, with the Finals on March 27.  Joe Jason, Pat Ronayne, and Jeremy Otto will cover the nine games. All nine games also will be available on the MHSAA Radio Network.

► Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving is March 26 (diving) and 27 (swimming) at Hudsonville High School for Division 1, Jenison High School for Division 2, and Hamilton High School (diving only) and Holland Aquatic Center (swimming only) for Division 3. Announcers Tom Skinner, Phil Johnson, and Gary Ratski are returning to call the action in the pool.

Now in its 13th 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 – The NFHS Network’s automated streaming solution – is used by schools wishing to live stream games but lacking the ability to staff the events. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.

NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 per month. Subscribers will have access to all live video and on-demand video from across the country. School Broadcast Program participants benefit as 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. 

Football Week in Michigan Airs on FOX

October 10, 2017

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties 

The MHSAA Football Playoff Finals – powered by the Michigan Army National Guard – dominate the schedule for FOX Sports Detroit’s first annual “Football Week In Michigan” this November.

Over eight days – November 18-25 – the best in high school, college and professional football involving Michigan teams will be featured on a variety of FOX video platforms – FOX Sports Detroit, FS1, FOX Sports GO!, Big Ten Network and FOX over-the-air television.

MHSAA championship football games provide 10 of the 13 games during FWIM. The prep schedule begins on Nov. 18 with the two divisions of the 8-Player Football Finals live from the Superior Dome in Marquette on FOX Sports GO! Those games will then be re-aired early in the week on FOX Sports Detroit. 

Seven of the eight 11-Player Football Finals on Nov. 24-25 will be shown live on FOX Sports Detroit-PLUS, the exception being the Division 4 game on Nov. 24, which will be shown on a same-day delayed basis on FOX Sports Detroit that evening at 11:30 p.m. All of the 11-Player Finals will be available live on FOX Sports Go!

Over-the-air FOX television affiliates in Michigan also will have the option to carry 11-Player Final games in their markets if they have a local team participating in a game. Participating affiliates are: Alpena – WBKB-DT2 (11.2); Cadillac – WFQX-TV (32); Detroit – WJBK-TV (2); Flint – WSMH-TV (66); Grand Rapids – WXMI-TV (17); Lansing – WSYM-TV (47); Marquette – WLUC-DT2 (6.2); Sault Ste. Marie – WWUP-DT2 (10.2); Vanderbilt – WFUP-TV (45). Check local listings Thanksgiving week for games to be shown locally.

Football Week In Michigan officially was recognized last week in a Proclamation by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.

FOX Sports Detroit’s MHSAA Football Playoff coverage begins Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. with the announcement of the pairings for the 2017 Playoffs on the Selection Sunday Show on FOX Sports Detroit-PLUS. Throughout the Playoffs leading up to the 11-Player Finals, the FOX Sports Detroit Prep Zone returns to feature four games each week which can be viewed live on FoxSportsDetroit.com and FOX Sports GO!

A share of the Mid-Eastern Football Conference title is on the line Friday (Oct. 13) at 7 p.m. when Norway hosts Lake Linden-Hubbell in a game that can be watched live on MHSAA.tv.

The winner of the game will tie Newberry for the league title. The Indians completed league play last week with a 28-14 win over Norway. Norway is 6-1 overall, and Lake Linden-Hubbell is 3-3.

Norway is one of more than 60 MHSAA member schools across the state participating in the School Broadcast Program, one of nearly a dozen schools to be streaming live video of its home athletic events using the NFHS Network’s Pixellot technology and one of three schools currently using Pixellot in their gymnasiums and football/multi-purpose fields.

Pixellot is a unit equipped with four High Definition cameras which 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 play-by-play of an in-person announce team also can be patched in.

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 10

Thursday, October 12

Friday, October 13

Monday, October 16

Tuesday, October 17

Wednesday, October 18

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 back for another week. Featured events are in girls volleyball with Saginaw Swan Valley at Freeland, football with Newberry at Norway and boys soccer with Lansing Everett 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:

  • Wyandotte Roosevelt at Gibraltar Carlson
  • Algonac at Richmond
  • Berkley at Farmington Hills Harrison
  • Detroit Catholic Central at Warren DeLaSalle
  • Grand Blanc at Livonia Franklin
  • Muskegon at Muskegon Mona Shores
  • Pontiac Notre Dame Prep at Portland
  • 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 Selection Sunday.

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.