Otisville-LakeVille First SBP Using Pixellot

January 31, 2017

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director
 

A challenge to schools wanting to stream live video of their athletic events to their communities is being able to adequately staff those productions.

“We had signed up for the School Broadcast Program over a year ago and we were really excited to get our games out to the community, and when it came to it, we just couldn’t get the manpower to run the equipment,” said Drew Johnson, the athletic director at Otisville-LakeVille High School in Genesee County. “That first day, we had everything lined up, we were ready to go, and two of our three kids missed school that day for being sick. It was just a hassle.

“So when we heard about Pixellot, it was a quick and easy decision.”

Just three weeks ago, LakeVille became the first school in Michigan and one of the first in the country to install a Pixellot unit in its gymnasium, automating the process of streaming live video on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network.

Pixellot is a unit equipped with four High Definition cameras that 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.

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 can also be set up to isolate a camera on a fixed location, which allows for activities like wrestling to also be streamed.

“We’re going to do everything that takes place in our gym,” Johnson said. “We’re also excited about being able to record our practices as well.”

Johnson added that the school will look into installing additional Pixellot units at its middle school auditorium for musical events and LakeVille’s outdoor athletic fields in the future. 

In its eighth 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. 

The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.  

All sporting events – Live or On-Demand – 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.

Here’s the schedule of events School Broadcast Program members plan to stream over the next week for broadcast at MHSAA.tv

Tuesday, Jan. 31

Wednesday, Feb. 1

Thursday, Feb. 2

Friday, Feb. 3

Saturday, Feb. 4

Monday, Feb. 6

Tuesday, Feb. 7

Be sure to check the Upcoming Events page at MHSAA.tv for schedule additions every day.

The NFHS Network has announced new pricing for 2016-17, eliminating the Day Pass and lowering the cost of a Month Pass to $9.95. 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. Some schools also will be selling 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.

Fans also can access scores of games in-progress on the NFHS Network website via ScoreStream. Click on the Scores button in the upper right corner.

A weekly staple on the MHSAA.tv website and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube is back for another year with highlights of selected games last week produced by members of the Association’s School Broadcast Program.

This week’s highlights package consists of clips from last week’s Bark River-Harris at Powers North Central boys basketball game in which the Jets set a state record for consecutive boys hoops victories, an ice hockey game pitting Detroit Catholic Central at Brighton in a battle of two of the top teams in the state and a demonstration of Pixellot in action during a boys basketball game with Millington at Otisville-LakeVille

Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.

PHOTOS: (Top) A laptop shows the variety of angles for the Pixellot and the calibration of its four cameras. (Middle) This Pixellot hangs at midcourt at Otisville-LakeVille High School.

Bally Sports Detroit Set to Announce MHSAA Football Playoff Pairings

By Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

October 19, 2021

The 288 qualifiers for this season’s Michigan High School Athletic Association Football Playoffs will be announced at 5:30 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 24) on the Bally Sports Detroit primary channel.

Brackets and matchups in all eight divisions for 256 11-player teams and 32 qualifiers across two divisions for 8-player football will be presented during the “Selection Sunday Show,” with all brackets to be posted to the MHSAA Website after the completion of the show at 6:30 p.m. Dates and times for first-round games will be added Monday (Oct. 25).

Viewers also may watch on the Bally Sports Detroit website and app. The MHSAA Playoffs in both divisions are set to begin during the weekend of Oct. 29-30. The 8-Player Playoffs will conclude with both Finals on Nov. 20 at Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome in Marquette. The 11-Player Finals will be played Nov. 26-27 at Ford Field in Detroit.

Lower Peninsula Boys Soccer District Tournaments continue this week with more than 50 games broadcast on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network. Two weeks remain in the volleyball regular season, with a number of key matchups of schools large and small filling a broadcast schedule offering more than 300 matches total this week.

Viewers also will be able to watch more than 175 regular-season football finales on MHSAA.tv this weekend, plus the last of regular-season live broadcasts by Bally Sports Detroit and State Champs! Sports Network. BSD will broadcast live on its primary channel Friday’s Southfield Arts & Technology at River Rouge matchup, with kickoff at 7 p.m. State Champs! Sports Network will broadcast Saturday's second Detroit Catholic League Prep Bowl game between Warren De La Salle Collegiate and Detroit U-D Jesuit at 4:30 p.m. from Ford Field.

See below for links to a number of notable events on MHSAA.tv this week:

BOYS SOCCER
Oct. 19, 5 p.m.: Berkley vs. Detroit U-D Jesuit
Oct. 19, 5 p.m.: Ann Arbor Skyline vs. Saline
Oct. 19, 7 p.m.: Troy vs. Troy Athens

VOLLEYBALL
Oct. 19, 6 p.m.: DeWitt at Okemos
Oct. 19, 7 p.m.: Saline at Ann Arbor Skyline
Oct. 20, 6:45 p.m.: Traverse City West at Cadillac
Oct. 20, 7 p.m.: Frankenmuth at Freeland
Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m.: Beaverton at Clare
Oct. 21, 6:55 p.m.: White Lake Lakeland at Rochester Adams
Oct. 21, 7 p.m.: Dexter at Chelsea
Oct. 21, 7:15 p.m.: Marquette at Kingsford
Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m.: Unionville-Sebewaing at Cass City
Oct. 23, 9 a.m.: Byron Center at Lowell
Oct. 23, 1 p.m.: Hudsonville at Rockford

FOOTBALL
Oct. 21, 7 p.m.: Bark River-Harris at Ishpeming
Oct. 22, 6:35 p.m.: Lansing Catholic at Pewamo-Westphalia
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Midland at Midland Dow
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Lake Orion at Saline
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Saginaw Heritage at Mount Pleasant
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Grand Ledge at Holt
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Frankenmuth at New Lothrop
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Novi at Livonia Churchill
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Hartland at Belleville

Click the links below to see all three sports’ listings in full:

Football VolleyballBoys Soccer

NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 per month. Subscribers have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. School Broadcast Program participants benefit as a portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.

More than 400 MHSAA member schools are participants in the School Broadcast Program, now in its 13th year, producing games using traditional hands-on student crews or via Pixellot cameras installed at stadiums and gymnasiums across the state. A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.