MHSAA.tv Live Postseason Views Approach 1 Million for 2020-21
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 14, 2021
Live postseason events streamed on MHSAA.tv during the 2020-21 school year were viewed nearly 1 million times, with 15 events drawing more than 10,000 live views apiece.
The final championship weekend of the Spring – featuring Girls Soccer Finals and Baseball and Softball Semifinals & Finals, all across four divisions June 17-19 at Michigan State University – saw nearly 70,000 live views on MHSAA.tv despite record attendance of those events at Old College Field.
The Division 2 Softball championship game – which ended with Owosso claiming its first Finals title in any sport, drew a weekend-high 5,677 live views on the network. The previous weekend, the Division 1 Girls Lacrosse Final won by Rockford on June 12 led the way with 4,284 live views.
The total number of live postseason views on MHSAA.tv for 2020-21 was 962,371. The most-viewed live tournament events were the Individual and Team Wrestling Finals, which with all rounds over all four divisions combined drew 244,044 live views. Among individual games broadcast solely by MHSAA.tv, the Division 3 Boys Basketball Semifinal matching Iron Mountain and Schoolcraft (15,393 live views) and the Division 1 Volleyball Semifinal featuring Novi and Lowell (13,484) ranked among the most watched.
MHSAA.tv is a partner of the NFHS Network. Postseason events streamed on MHSAA.tv included most sports’ Finals, and Semifinals and Quarterfinals for some – especially sports where multiple concluding rounds were hosted by the same tournament site.
MHSAA.tv also ranked second among NFHS Network contributing states with 18,973 live events (postseason and regular-season combined) streamed during the 2020-21 school year. That total of nearly 19,000 live postseason events was an increase from 7,710 events streamed live during 2019-20 and 3,900 during 2018-19, and placed Michigan behind only Illinois.
The School Broadcast Program is responsible for nearly all production of regular-season events. Having now concluded its 13th year, the SBP 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. Rockford – one of the state’s largest schools with nearly 2,500 students – broadcast 242 events, drawing an SBP-high 74,437 live views and 89,604 total with on-demand replays included. Much smaller Pewamo-Westphalia, a school of 300 students, received the second-most views of SBP members in 2020-21 with 56,009 including live and on-demand. Marquette, Lake Orion, Cedar Springs, Montrose and McBain also were among top SBP providers.
In addition to bringing local events on air nationally, the School Broadcast Program gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions. NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 per month. Subscribers receive access to all live and on-demand video from across the country. School Broadcast Program participants receive a portion of every subscription sold by a school to benefit its program.
Broadcasts from the majority of Michigan schools – especially those lacking the ability to staff events for production – are streamed using a Pixellot automated camera. Michigan schools have 774 Pixellots in service, third-most in the country behind only Texas and California. Most Michigan schools have one camera at an outdoor stadium and a second at the main indoor gymnasium.
A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.
Another Championship Week on MHSAA.tv Begins with Volleyball Quarterfinals
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
November 16, 2021
All 16 Volleyball Quarterfinals scheduled for Tuesday (Nov. 16) will be broadcast on MHSAA.tv to kick off a busy week of Michigan High School Athletic Association tournament events also including Semifinals and Finals in volleyball, Finals in Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving and 8-player football, and Semifinals in 11-player football.
The winners of Volleyball Quarterfinal matches will advance to this weekend’s Semifinals and Finals at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek. Division 1 and 4 Semifinals will be played Thursday (Nov. 18), Division 2 and 3 Semifinals on Friday (Nov. 19) and all four Finals will be played Saturday (Nov. 20).
Visit the Volleyball page of the MHSAA Website (https://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/Girls-Volleyball/2021-Finals) for full details, and see below for the Quarterfinal schedule with links to broadcasts:
Division 1
► Davison vs. Bloomfield Hills Marian – 7 p.m.
► Rockford vs. Hudsonville – 7 p.m.
► Ann Arbor Skyline vs. Northville – 7 p.m.
► Dearborn Divine Child vs. Macomb Dakota – 7 p.m.
Division 2
► Cadillac vs. North Branch – 7 p.m.
► Lake Odessa Lakewood vs. Onsted – 7 p.m.
► Grand Rapids Christian vs. Niles – 7:30 p.m.
► Detroit Country Day vs. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep – 5 p.m.
Division 3
► Muskegon Western Michigan Christian vs. Watervliet – 7 p.m.
► Royal Oak Shrine Catholic vs. Reese – 6 p.m.
► Calumet vs. McBain – 6 p.m.
► Pewamo-Westphalia vs. Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central – 7 p.m.
Division 4
► Battle Creek St. Philip vs. Adrian Lenawee Christian – 6 p.m.
► Allen Park Inter-City Baptist vs. Ubly – 6 p.m.
► Ironwood vs. Indian River Inland Lakes – 6 p.m.
► Traverse City Christian vs. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart – 6 p.m.
Once Semifinals and Finals matches are determined, those links will be found by clicking Volleyball.
The Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals will be competed at three sites, with preliminaries Friday and championships in all events Saturday. Visit the Girls Swimming & Diving page of the MHSAA Website (https://www.mhsaa.com/Sports/Girls-Swimming-Diving) for full details. Competition begins at noon both days, and all three meets will be broadcast both days, with announcers detailing the action as well during Saturday’s championship events:
► Lower Peninsula Division 1 at Holland Aquatic Center
► Lower Peninsula Division 2 at Oakland University
► Lower Peninsula Division 3 at Calvin University
The 8-player football season concludes Saturday with championship games in both divisions at Superior Dome at Northern Michigan University. Both games will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv – the Division 1 Final between Adrian Lenawee Christian and Suttons Bay kicks off at 11 a.m., and Division 2 between Colon and Powers North Central will begin approximately 2 p.m. Both will re-air on MHSAA media partner Bally Sports Detroit’s primary channel Nov. 25, with Division 1 at 7 p.m. and Division 2 at 10 p.m.
Bally Sports Detroit also will continue its weekly live cable TV broadcasts with Saturday’s 11-Player Division 1 Semifinal between Sterling Heights Stevenson and Belleville. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. on BSD’s primary channel, and the game also may be watched on the BSD website and app.
For a complete schedule of 11-Player Semifinals to be broadcast live Saturday on MHSAA.tv, click Football. Links to broadcasts will be added throughout this week.
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.