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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.

More Championships Come to MHSAA TV

October 31, 2017

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties 

Championship action in two sports plus the second week of PrepZone gridiron coverage will provide fans of MHSAA action lots to choose from this weekend.

Coverage begins with four District Final games in the MHSAA Football Playoffs – powered by the Michigan Army National Guard – on the PrepZone on FoxSportsDetroit.com and FOX Sports GO! on Friday (Nov. 3) at 7 p.m.:

  • Canton at Belleville (Div. 1)
  • Grand Rapids Catholic Central at Wyoming Kelloggsville (Div. 4)
  • River Rouge at Chelsea  (Div. 4 – Also available on FOX Sports Detroit Facebook page)
  • Pewamo-Westphalia at New Lothrop (Div. 7) 

On Saturday (Nov. 4), the four championship games of the Lower Peninsula Boys Soccer Tournament will have live streaming video on MHSAA.tv and live streaming audio on MHSAANetwork.com, and the Finish Line Cam at Michigan International Speedway returns at the L.P. Cross Country Finals on MHSAA.tv.

All four PrepZone games feature clashes of highly-ranked teams in the final Associated Press polls for 2017. Belleville was ranked second and Canton ninth in the final Division 1 poll; Grand Rapids Catholic Central and Wyoming Kelloggsville were 1-2 in Division 4; River Rouge and Chelsea were 7-8 in the final Division 3 poll; and New Lothrop finished the season atop the Division 7 rankings with Pewamo-Westphalia in third.

The River Rouge at Chelsea game will receive bonus coverage, streaming live on the Fox Sports Detroit Facebook page. That game drew 49 percent of the votes in a Twitter poll conducted Monday.

All PrepZone games will be archived on MHSAA.tv.

Saturday’s Boys Soccer Finals will be live on MHSAA.tv with games at Noon and 3 p.m. The games will be played at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and Comstock Park High Schools, with divisions at each site to be announced after the Semifinals on Wednesday (Nov. 1). All of the games will also have live streaming audio at MHSAANetwork.com.

One Soccer Semifinal game will be Live on MHSAA.tv on Wednesday – a Division 3 matchup at Cedar Springs between Ludington and Grand Rapids South Christian, at 6 p.m.

MHSAA.tv will also offer a free live video stream on Saturday of the finish line at the Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway. The stream will include audio commentary from announcers around the course throughout each race.  The morning session with the boys and girls races in Division 3 and 4 begins at 9:30 a.m., and the afternoon session with races in Divisions 1 and 2 starts at 1:30 p.m. Live timing of each race will also be available on the Cross Country page of the MHSAA Website.

A month’s subscription to watch live on MHSAA.tv is $9.95 and allows access to the full schedule of MHSAA Tournaments during the month of November:

  • Nov. 4 – Boys Soccer Finals
  • Nov. 11 – Selected Football Playoff Regional Finals
  • Nov. 16-17 – Girls Volleyball Semifinals & Finals
  • Nov. 18 – Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals
  • Nov. 18 – Football Playoff Semifinals (12 games) 

Live coverage of Football District Finals and Girls Volleyball District games also takes place this week on MHSAA.tv, being produced by SBP schools:

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.

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.

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

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 Pre-District football games Parma Western at Haslett and Oscoda at Breckenridge, and a boys soccer Regional Final match with Petoskey at East Lansing.

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

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:

  • Canton at Belleville
  • Macomb Dakota at Clinton Township Chippewa Valley
  • Warren DeLaSalle at Port Huron Northern
  • Grand Rapids Catholic Central at Wyoming Kelloggsville
  • River Rouge at Chelsea
  • Grant at Muskegon Oakridge
  • Kent City at Montague
  • Laingsburg at Ithaca
  • Pewamo-Westphalia at Ithaca
  • Petersburg-Summerfield at Ottawa Lake-Whiteford
  • Morrice at Deckerville

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 The Scholar-Athlete Award.

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.