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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.

Football Streaming Returns to MHSAA TV

August 27, 2019

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

For the third straight year, MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network will open the high school football season with live streaming video of contests from gridiron festivals in Detroit and Flint.

The action begins at 4 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 29) when Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice and Utica Eisenhower open the 15th Annual Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic at Tom Adams Stadium on the campus of Wayne State University in Detroit, and Grand Blanc faces Midland Dow in the Third Annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic at historic Atwood Stadium in Flint on the campus of Kettering University.

The nightcap games on Thursday are Clinton Township Chippewa Valley vs. Saline at 7 p.m. in Detroit and Goodrich against Flint Powers Catholic in Flint at 7:30 p.m.

Here’s the schedule for the other games:

Prep Kickoff Classic – Detroit

Friday - Aug. 30
Birmingham Groves v. Grosse Pointe South, 4 p.m.
Muskegon v. Warren De La Salle Collegiate, 7 p.m. 
Saturday - Aug. 31
Detroit Catholic Central v. Detroit Martin Luther King, 1 p.m.
Detroit Cass Tech v. Chicago Wendell Phillips Academy, 4 p.m.

Vehicle City Gridiron Classic – Flint

Friday, Aug. 30
Otisville LakeVille v. North Branch, 4 p.m.
Flint Carman-Ainsworth v. Port Huron, 7:30 p.m.

The NFHS Network is also working with FOX Sports Detroit to help promote the 2019 edition of Football Week In Michigan, by making the games in Detroit available to cable or satellite subscribers of that channel on FOX Sports GO!
 
The games in Detroit and Flint are part of a 25-game weekend on the NFHS Network and MHSAA.tv, which is also highlighted by Week 1 showdowns between Pewamo-Westphalia and Reading at Olivet College and Hudson at Ithaca both at 7 p.m. Thursday. 

Here’s a list of the varsity events being broadcast on the network over the coming week: 

Tuesday, Aug. 27
Girls Volleyball - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. TBD  - 1 PM
Boys Soccer – Ann Arbor Greenhills vs. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood – 4:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Ovid-Elsie  vs. Byron Center Charter School  - 5 PM
Girls Volleyball - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. TBA  - 5 PM
Boys Soccer - Manchester  vs. Brooklyn Columbia Central   - 5:30 PM
Girls Volleyball – Bloom. Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart vs. Southfield Christian  - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Cedar Springs  vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern   - 6:45 PM
Boys Soccer - Troy Athens vs. Berkley   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Novi  vs. Salem   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Birmingham Seaholm vs. Bloomfield Hills   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - South Lyon  vs. Milford   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Troy  vs. Clarkston   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Lapeer vs. Notre Dame Prep  - 7:30 PM
 
Wednesday, Aug. 28
Boys Soccer – Dexter vs. Saline – 4 PM
Girls Volleyball - Troy Athens vs. TBA  - 5 PM
Girls Volleyball - Freeland  vs. Bay City Western   - 5 PM
Girls Volleyball - Freeland  vs. Gladwin   - 6 PM
Girls Volleyball - Pentwater vs. Hart  - 6 PM
Boys Soccer - Portage Northern  vs. Battle Creek Central   - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - South Lyon East  vs. Whitmore Lake   - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer – Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central vs. Cedar Springs – 6:45 PM
Boys Soccer - Troy Athens vs. Bloomfield Hills   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Saline  vs. Dexter   - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Fowler vs. Pewamo-Westphalia  - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Freeland  vs. Beaverton   - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Morley Stanwood  vs. Lakeview   - 7 PM
Girls Volleyball - Ovid-Elsie  vs. Owosso   - 7 PM
 
Thursday, Aug. 29
Boys Soccer - Petoskey  vs. Maple City Glen Lake   - 1 PM
Boys Soccer - Petoskey  vs. Ogemaw Heights   - 3 PM
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic – Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice vs. Utica Eisenhower  - 4 PM
2019 Vehicle City Gridiron Classic – Grand Blanc vs. Midland Dow - 4 PM
Football - Maple City Glen Lake  vs. Millington   - 6 PM
Boys Soccer - South Lyon East  vs. Walled Lake Western   - 6:30 PM
Girls Volleyball – Otisville LakeVille vs. Byron Center Charter  - 6:30 PM
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic – Clinton Twp. Chippewa Valley vs Saline  - 7 PM
Football - Troy Athens vs. Detroit Old Redford Preparatory   - 7 PM
Football - Calumet  vs. Wakefield-Marenisco   - 7 PM
Football - Cedar Springs  vs. Saginaw Swan Valley   - 7 PM
Football - Freeland  vs. Marshall   - 7 PM
Football - Ithaca  vs. Hudson   - 7 PM
Football – Stevensville Lakeshore  vs. Holland West Ottawa   - 7 PM
Football - Birmingham Seaholm vs. Ferndale   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - South Lyon  vs. Lakeland   - 7 PM
Football - Allegan vs. Plainwell  - 7 PM
Football - Lake Orion vs. Lapeer  - 7 PM
Football - Reading vs. Pewamo-Westphalia at Olivet College  - 7 PM
Football - Zeeland West vs. East Grand Rapids  - 7 PM
2019 Flint Vehicle City Gridiron Classic – Goodrich vs. Flint Powers Catholic - 7:30 PM
Football - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Linden   - 7:30 PM
 
 
Friday, Aug. 30
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic - Grosse Pointe South vs Birmingham Groves  - 4 PM
2019 Flint Vehicle City Gridiron Classic – Otisville LakeVille vs. North Branch - 4 PM
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic - Warren De La Salle Collegiate vs Muskegon  - 7 PM
Football - Bad Axe vs. Harbor Beach   - 7 PM
2019 Flint Vehicle City Gridiron Classic – Flint Carman-Ainsworth vs. Port Huron - 7:30 PM
 
 
Saturday, Aug. 31
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic - Detroit Catholic Central vs Detroit King  - 1 PM
Football - Norway  vs. Lake Linden-Hubbell   - 2 PM
2019 Xenith Prep Football Kickoff Classic – Phillips Academy (IL) vs Detroit Cass Tech  - 4 PM
 
Tuesday, Sept. 3
Boys Soccer - Ovid-Elsie  vs. Montrose   - 5 PM
Boys Soccer - Manchester  vs. Blissfield   - 5:30 PM
Girls Volleyball - Ovid-Elsie  vs. Montrose   - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Troy Athens vs. TBA  - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Brighton  vs. Novi   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Freeland  vs. Essexville Garber   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Howell  vs. Salem   - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Imlay City vs. Notre Dame Prep  - 7:30 PM ? 
 
Now in its 11th 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 $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 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.