MHSAA Gets Word In During Video Age
September 3, 2014
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
The Buggles’ leadoff single for MTV’s Opening Day on Aug. 1, 1981, started a rally – OK, a revolution – in the music industry that would last decades.
“Video Killed the Radio Star” certainly had a lasting impact, and the song and its one-hit-wonder artist are now an intertwined answer in music trivia lore.
But, the game is still going on. The radio star is far from dead, and, in fact, MTV rarely shows music videos any more.
True, video is everywhere, from laptops to tablets to phones. So, too, is music – and the spoken word in the form of podcasts, audiobooks, and, yes, play-by-play of athletic events.
The MHSAA Network has been providing the latter for prep enthusiasts for decades, entering the world of webcasting around the turn of the millennium.
Having broadcasts available online has done wonders to increase the number of stations and listeners. Prior to the foray into internet broadcasts, dedicated ISDN phone lines and a satellite were required for content to reach the network affiliates.
John Kreger, the primary voice of MHSAA Championships, has been there through the transition, and sees only a bright future ahead.
Prior to the 2003-04 school year, the MHSAA entered a partnership with TBC Sports to air its radio broadcasts for tournaments. Working with TBC owner Will Tieman at that time was Kreger.
“This was before the Network was online, and Will said to me, ‘Hey John, I have a project for you,’” Kreger recalls. “Well, I jumped at the opportunity and he let me run with it. There are times I still want to pinch myself to make sure I’m really able to watch and broadcast all these events.”
After four years with TBC, the MHSAA Network moved its operations to online vendor EZStream, allowing for greater growth and easier access for all involved.
“EZStream really stepped up its quality in recent years, and once our stations no longer needed a satellite receiver, getting games on the air became much simpler,” Kreger said. “All they need to do is point and click to get the feed. It’s a low-cost – almost no-cost – way for stations around the state to tell the story of high school sports.”
No one enjoys telling that story more than Kreger, now in his 11th year calling MHSAA events. His broadcast career has placed him on radio row at Stanley Cup, NBA and MLB playoffs, but it’s talking about his MHSAA Tournament gig that revs his voice to a pitch normally reserved for the final seconds of a prep title game at Ford Field, Breslin or Compuware.
“High school sports is the only pure form of sports left. As a professional reporter and broadcaster I spend most of my year dealing with playing time and sneaker deals,” Kreger said. “But for nine weeks out of the year I get to broadcast sports which the MHSAA has made into a showcase about students, and I am honored to do this. The looks on those kids’ faces when they take the same court or field they see on TV, knowing they reached the pinnacle, there’s no rush like it in sports. I’ll take high school events every day of the week and twice on Sunday.”
The 2008 MHSAA Ice Hockey Final seemed like it might indeed push Kreger into action on a Sunday. The last game of the weekend, the Division 1 tilt between Marquette and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, went eight overtimes before it was declared a tie. It was one of Kreger’s most memorable moments.
“It was our first year doing hockey on the Network, and being on the air, just being a small part of that, and seeing the MHSAA make the right call and declare a tie; it is something I’ll never forget,” Kreger said. “I’ve been on air enough to hear the cliché, ‘What a great game; too bad someone had to lose,’ too many times, or at times where that might not have been the case. Well, no one deserved to lose that night, and the MHSAA made a great decision. I’m proud to have seen that.”
Thanks to Kreger and the Network, thousands of people continue to “see” games they can’t attend. For the 2014 winter season, approximately 7,000 unique listeners tuned in to the MHSAA Ice Hockey, Girls Basketball and Boys Basketball Finals.
Audio continues to thrive and serve its audiences for a number of reasons.
“Personally, one of the reasons I stay with audio is because we have the opportunity to tell a story and allow the listener to create their own picture,” Kreger said. “Radio broadcasts are much more descriptive, whereas TV broadcasts serve more as guides to what people are already seeing.
“One of my idols is Ernie Harwell, who said, ‘In radio, nothing happens until the broadcaster says it does.’ In that respect, there’s more anticipation and imagination for the listener. Think of the iconic moments like the Bobby Thompson home run. It’s always the radio feed. It takes people back to where they were at the moment.”
That’s another key advantage to audio. If people can’t attend an event, they can listen. Even in today’s world of hand-held video devices, there are times when listening is simply more conducive than watching, whether working around the house, exercising or driving to and from appointments.
“Radio is a lot more accessible to people. It’s a constant companion, and that’s the beauty of it,” Kreger said.
Like its video brethren, audio listeners are turning to mobile devices as the tool of choice. Of the 7,000 customers this past winter, nearly one-third were mobile listeners.
Kreger has been an amiable companion for Michigan prep enthusiasts for the past decade, and he hopes they keep inviting him along wherever their travels take them. He also lauds the MHSAA for expanding its menu.
“The MHSAA is to be commended for expanding the schedule to more than just football and basketball,” Kreger said. “The more sports we can bring to people, the better.”
If Kreger could be in two places at once, there’s no doubt he’d accept the assignment as long as it had the MHSAA stamp on it. Perhaps that’s because his values and perspective are so closely aligned with the mission of school sports and the MHSAA.
“The first rule of high school sports is that this isn’t life. It’s part of life,” he said. “The athletes will become doctors, lawyers and teachers. The coaches are teachers, doctors and auto workers. We don’t sugar coat. I try to be true to the game, to be honest and accurate, and all the while I remember perspective. Above all else, I try to remain respectful of the game.”
PHOTO: The faces behind some of the familiar voices on the MHSAA Network are, from left, Mike Stump, John Kreger, Denny Kapp and John Spooner.
SBP Brings Our Schools to You
August 25, 2014
By John Johnson
MHSAA communications director
Coaches used to come and go each weekend during the football season. Late at night they would drop their game films off at a local 24-hour gas station or diner; and a couple of nights later, they’d return to pick up the processed film to use in preparation for the next game.
That was life in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. It was difficult for students to get into a visual medium like film in general, and certainly in sports. The equipment was bulky and hard to operate, and the film went to some central location for processing which took at least a couple of days. Editing the stuff when it came back took a splicing machine, tape and glue to make even the simplest edit – and that’s assuming your school was lucky enough to have that gear.
Say the word “film” to a young person now, and they may recall seeing it in a history book or finding a box of old negatives or home movie reels in their grandparents’ attic.
Today’s high school students have endless possibilities because with a little creativity and vision, they can be hands on producing their schools’ athletic and non-athletic events and reach out to members of their schools’ global community to show them the homecoming parade, game, musical or graduation. Aunt Millie in Montana doesn’t have to wait for that phone call later that weekend to find out that Johnny scored three touchdowns. She watched all of them live, and texted him on the bus on the way home to congratulate him as he watched the game on demand on his handheld device.
More and more schools are keeping their communities connected by broadcasting their games over the Internet, and there are more schools in Michigan and nationwide providing that opportunity under the banner of the School Broadcast Program.
Powered by PlayOn! Sports and the NFHS Network, there are 860 schools in 38 states regularly producing events and giving the students producing those games some real-life hands-on broadcasting experience in the process.
“The PlayOn! Sports platform gives schools the opportunity to be successful at creating video broadcasts of their events regardless of their enrollment and resources,” said Mark Rothberg, Vice President of PlayOn! Sports, who handles the day-to-day administration of the School Broadcast Program. “You can produce a great-looking event with a simple crew of three kids handling the announcing, the camera and generating graphics on the computer; and if you’re fortunate to have the resources to create productions using multiple cameras and replays, you’ll look even better.
“Our partnership with the NFHS Network and most state associations creates a single portal, unlike anything a school can do on its own or by utilizing other streaming services, where fans of high school sports can keep up with the team in their backyard or other schools around the country where they have family or friends participating. It’s truly the destination for high school sports.”
More than half of Michigan schools participating in the NFHS Network School Broadcast Program have signed up through the Michigan Interscholastic Connection, and those schools have produced the majority of the SBP content on MHSAA.tv the past two years.
“What we try to do with our schools first is see if video production can be integrated into the curriculum, so that even though athletics is the driving force behind the School Broadcast Program, the athletic department doesn’t have to worry about adding this to an already long to-do list,” said Sparky Nitchman of the Michigan Interscholastic Connection. “Every school is unique, so our process is very individualized, aiming at providing the resources that each school needs in order to provide the best environment possible for a flourishing, long-term broadcasting class.
“We try to be very hands-on with our schools in giving them guidance in the classroom and at events, and with the marketing side of the program.”
Membership in the School Broadcast Program is free. PlayOn! Sports makes sure schools secure the proper equipment to run the software and has a dedicated support team to provide telephone and e-mail assistance should something occur during a production. Schools can live stream as many athletic events annually as they can on a customized school branded portal under the MHSAA.tv and NFHSNetwork.com websites. Live internet video broadcasts are permissible by MHSAA Handbook rules when they are produced by member schools and are available on a subscription or password-protected basis.
The subscription model provided by PlayOn! Sports provides a tool for schools to generate new revenue. Beginning this fall, schools can sell their fans annual subscription passes at a deeply discounted rate and receive a significant revenue share on each pass sold. Schools will continue to have the opportunity to sell advertising within their broadcasts in a way that they typically cannot if an event is being streamed on the school district’s website.
“We’ve already had schools on the subscription program happily surprised when, at the end of a season, we mailed them a four-figure check from subscription revenue,” Rothberg said. “The opportunity for financial success as a School Broadcast Program member is very real if a school works hard at marketing and then does a solid job of producing events.”
In addition to the educational experience students receive producing events, a number of students at SBP schools who graduated this spring chose to attend colleges with strong broadcasting curriculums or athletic broadcast departments, or trade schools like Specs-Howard. These kids have found an exciting activity to participate in and are getting real experience in the production field.
“Kids who may have felt they were on the outside edge of things at school have found something in the School Broadcast Program that does the same thing for them that athletics do for so many other kids,” said John Johnson, communications director for the MHSAA, who helps manage the day-to-day operation of the SBP with member schools. “It gives them a reason to get up in the morning to go to school, do well in school, and interact with kids they may never have dreamed that they’d be rubbing elbows with. All through the power of sports, and a medium that so many of them are naturally attracted to anyway in this digital age.”
The MHSAA always has had strong ties to the broadcasting community. While the days are gone of 40 to 50 local radio stations originating all four games of the Boys Basketball Finals – even if their community representative had been already knocked out of the tournament – those same stations now pick up an MHSAA Network originated feed of the Boys and Girls Basketball Finals.
For nearly a decade, the MHSAA has partnered with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation to support the latter’s Student Broadcasting Awards, with some of the Public Service Announcements created in those contests being broadcast statewide. Students winning the Sports Play-By-Play category even get an opportunity to sit courtside during a Finals event and call the action on the MHSAA Network website.
Also, a new alliance has been formed with the Student Broadcast Foundation to create field trip days to selected MHSAA tournament events, where students can meet with broadcasting industry professionals, watch the productions behind the scenes and even call or produce a mock audio broadcast of a game.
PHOTO: Davison students tour the Fox Sports Detroit broadcast truck during the 2013-14 school year.