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.
Districts Move to Semis on MHSAA TV
March 4, 2020
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
Here is the schedule for MHSAA Girls Basketball District Semifinal games with live streaming video on Wednesday (March 4) on the NFHS Network and MHSAA.tv:
- District 4 at Grand Blanc - Davison v. Lapeer – 5 PM; Flint Southwestern v. Grand Blanc - 7 PM
- District 5 at Waterford Kettering - Rochester Adams v. Waterford Kettering – 5 PM; Clarkston v. Lake Orion - 6:30 PM
- District 6 at Bloomfield Hills - West Bloomfield v. Waterford Mott – 5 PM; Pontiac v. Auburn Hills Avondale – 7 PM
- District 7 at White Lake Lakeland - Walled Lake Northern v. Walled Lake Central - 5 PM; Walled Lake Western v. White Lake Lakeland - 7 PM
- District 8 at Holly - Hartland v. Linden - 5:30 PM; Holly v. Howell – 7 PM
- District 9 at Rockford - Grand Rapids Northview v. Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills - 5:30 PM; Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central v. Rockford – 7 PM
- District 13 at Stevensville Lakeshore - Portage Central v. Mattawan - 5:30 PM; Kalamazoo Central v. Stevensville Lakeshore - 7:30 PM
- District 17 at Brighton - Dexter v. South Lyon East – 5 PM; Brighton v. Ann Arbor Skyline – 7 PM
- District 26 at Bloomfield Hills Marian - Southfield A&T v. Royal Oak - 5:30 PM; Bloomfield Hills Marian v. Berkley - 7:15 PM
- District 32 at Macomb L'Anse Creuse North - Macomb Dakota v. Port Huron Northern 5:30 PM; Port Huron v. Macomb L'Anse Creuse North – 7 PM
- District 35 at Cadillac - Cadillac v. Reed City – 6 PM; Big Rapids v. Benzie Central - 8 PM
- District 40 at Chesaning - Chesaning v. Owosso - 5:30 PM; Durand v. Ovid-Elsie – 7 PM
- District 42 at Fremont - Comstock Park v. Sparta – 6 PM; Newaygo v. Grant - 7:30 PM
- District 48 at Plainwell - Plainwell v. Vicksburg 5:30 PM; Battle Creek Harper Creek v. Comstock - 7:30 PM
- District 65 at Non-Traditional Draw - Calumet v. Iron Mountain - 6 PM (At Calumet)
- District 66 at Manistique - Negaunee v. Manistique – 7 PM
- District 69 at Maple City Glen Lake - Maple City Glen Lake v. Mancelona - 5:30 PM; Grand Traverse Academy v. Traverse City St. Francis - 7:15 PM
- District 72 at Hart - Mason County Central v. Evart - 5:30 PM; Hart v. Shelby - 7:00 PM
- District 76 at Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian - Pewamo-Westphalia v. Saranac - 5:30 PM; Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian v. Grandville Calvin Christian – 7 PM
- District 79 at Kalamazoo Christian - Kalamazoo Christian v. Vermontville Maple Valley - 5:30 PM; Kalamazoo Hackett v. Delton Kellogg 7 PM
- District 94 at Otisville-Lakeville - Millington v. Flint Beecher 5:30 PM; Otisville-Lakeville v. Flint Hamady – 7 PM
- District 96 at Bad Axe - Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker v. Bad Axe – 6 PM; Cass City v. Unionville-Sebewaing - 7:30 PM
- District 102 at Non-Traditional Draw - St. Ignace v. Mackinac Island - 6:30 PM (At St. Ignace)
- District 103 at Pellston - Harbor Springs Harbor Light Christian v. Pellston 5:30 PM; Mackinaw City v. Alanson – 7 PM
- District 112 at Kingston - Mayville v. Ubly – 6 PM; Owendale-Gagetown v. Kingston - 7:30 PM
- District 123 at Huron Valley Lutheran - Westland Universal Learning Academy v. Lutheran Westland – 5 PM
- District 126 at Auburn Hills Oakland Christian - Waterford Our Lady v. Clarkston Everest Collegiate – 6 PM; Burton St. Thomas More Academy v. Auburn Hills Oakland Christian - 7:30 PM
The schedules for the District Finals will be released the day before that round. You can always reach a list of the upcoming tournament games by Clicking Here.
The Girls Basketball action is part of a week of more than 200 live events on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network. You can Click Here to look at the latest list of all upcoming varsity games.
NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 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.