Fall Live Streams Return to MHSAA TV

August 23, 2018

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

The MHSAA Network gets started for the 2018-19 school year this week, with live streaming football on MHSAA.tv.

The MHSAA.tv Website starts the 2018 football season with the NFHS Network streaming 11 games in three days from the Vehicle City Gridiron Classic at Flint and the Battle at the Big House in Ann Arbor on Thursday, the Thursday and Friday games at the Prep Kickoff Classic in Detroit and the West Michigan Sports Commission Gridiron Classic in Allendale on Saturday.  

The MHSAA School Broadcast Program will be involved at three of the four sites for the NFHS Network this weekend.  Montrose High School will produce the games at Flint. Lake Orion High School will produce the games in Ann Arbor, and Cedar Springs High School will produce the games at Allendale.

Topping off the weekend’s streaming activity will be a number of games being produced by other members of the MHSAA School Broadcast Program – which has experienced great growth since last year due to the NFHS Network’s automated production solution, Pixellot. Three dozen schools will be utilizing a total of 50 Pixellot units in the year ahead, with some schools installing multiple units to cover outdoor and indoor events.

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.

Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams being produced by SBP members and the NFHS Network:

Thursday – Aug. 23

Football - Vehicle City Gridiron Classic - Flint vs. Flint Beecher  - 1 p.m.

Football - Battle at the Big House - Warren Mott vs. Ann Arbor Skyline  - 3:30 p.m.

Football - Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic - Oak Park vs. Utica Eisenhower  - 4 p.m.

Football - Vehicle City Gridiron Classic - Flint Hamady vs. Byron  - 4 p.m.

Freshman Football - Marshall vs. Freeland  - 4:30 p.m.

Junior Varsity Football - Marshall vs. Freeland  - 6:30 p.m.

Football - Battle at the Big House - Lapeer vs. Lake Orion  - 7 p.m.

Football - Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic - Detroit Catholic Central vs. Walled Lake Western  - 7 p.m.

Football - Vehicle City Gridiron Classic - Fenton vs. Ortonville Brandon  - 7 p.m.

Football – Chippewa Valley vs. Saline  - 7 p.m.

Football – Chippewa Valley vs. Saline  - 7 p.m.

Football - Westland vs. Novi  - 7 p.m.

Football – Bay City Central vs. Frankenmuth  - 7 p.m.

Football - Cass City vs. Montrose  - 7 p.m.

 

Friday – Aug. 24

Football - Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic - Allen Park vs. Trenton  - 4 p.m.

Field Hockey - Skyline vs. Novi  - 4:30 p.m.

Junior Varsity Field Hockey - Skyline vs. Novi  - 6 p.m.

Football - Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic - Davison vs. Southfield  - 7 p.m.

 

Saturday – Aug. 25

Football - West Michigan Sports Commission Gridiron Classic - East Kentwood vs. Muskegon Mona Shores  - 4 p.m.

Football - West Michigan Sports Commission Gridiron Classic - Zeeland East vs. East Grand Rapids  - 7 p.m.

Junior Varsity Girls Volleyball - Freeland  - 9 a.m.

Varsity Girls Volleyball - Norway  - 9:30 a.m.

 

Monday – Aug. 27

Freshman Girls Volleyball - Notre Dame Prep vs. Macomb Lutheran North  - 5:30 p.m.

Varsity Girls Volleyball – Ann Arbor Greenhills - 9 a.m.

 

Tuesday – Aug. 28

Freshman Boys Soccer – Ann Arbor Pioneer vs. Saline  - 4 p.m.

Junior Varsity Boys Soccer - Ann Arbor Huron vs. Saline  - 5:30 p.m.

Varsity Girls Volleyball – Rock Mid Peninsula vs. Norway  - 6 p.m.

Varsity Boys Soccer - Ann Arbor Huron vs. Saline  - 7 p.m.

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 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. 

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

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.