NFHS Offers Pixellots, School Support
July 7, 2020
National Federation of State High School Associations
As high schools nationwide continue to deal with the fallout from COVID-19 and make plans for the restarting of activities this fall, the NFHS Network – the leader in streaming live and on-demand high school sports – has announced an unprecedented offer for schools that are facing possible attendance restrictions at events during the 2020-21 school year.
Through its High School Support Program, the NFHS Network is offering up to two free Pixellot automated-production units for schools that lack production capabilities to stream events on the NFHS Network.
The offer of two Pixellot units – one for indoor events and the other for outdoor contests – has been extended to all 19,500 high schools in the 51 NFHS member state associations. The NFHS Network is a joint venture of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), its member state associations and PlayOn! Sports.
In addition to receiving two free Pixellot production units, schools will receive a larger percentage of subscription revenue generated from their events, effective Aug. 1, in an effort to offset revenue losses from reduced attendance.
“We recognize that the next several years will be challenging for our high schools and state associations,” said Mark Koski, CEO of the NFHS Network. “Many are facing budget cuts and reduced resources, and attendance at athletic and other school events may be restricted. From the NFHS Network’s inception seven years ago, we have been driven by the goal to create a platform that showcases every high school event across every sport and every level of competition. Consistent with this goal, we want the High School Support Program to demonstrate our continued commitment to help our partner schools manage through the inevitable complications created by COVID-19.”
The Pixellot automated production solution was introduced to high schools three years ago and has quickly become an integral component of the NFHS Network’s offerings. The Pixellot solution allows every event to be streamed live without requiring personnel to produce the games. There are currently more than 5,000 Pixellot units in high schools across the country which will produce in excess of 250,000 live games this upcoming school year with no human involvement.
In addition to livestreaming 27 sports, the NFHS Network also covers performing arts, graduations, award ceremonies and other school events. To date, the NFHS Network has distributed more than $25 million back to participating high schools and state associations.
For more information about the High School Support Program, click here. Schools wishing to sign up for free Pixellot units should visit here.
Montrose Earns SBP Awards 5-Peat
By
John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director emeritus
May 11, 2018
Make it five in row for Montrose High School, which again claimed the top spot as the “Program of the Year” in the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program Excellence Awards for 2017-18.
The SBP Excellence Awards will award certificates and plaques to the schools which took individual honors, with the presentation dates and times to be announced.
Montrose took first place in every category: Best Highlight, Best Multicamera Production, Best Student Play-by-Play, Best Produced Commercial/Feature, Best Single Camera Production with PlayOn! Sports Graphics and Best Use of PlayOn! Sports Graphics. It also placed a second entry in five of the six categories.
Montrose continued to demonstrate good blend of productions in a variety of sports covered and an overall command of the PlayOn! Sports software used for graphics and inserting commercials/features during the course of productions.
Other criteria used in selecting the top program awards were sporting events produced and live page views for those events. The events category was dominated by schools using Pixellot, the NFHS Network’s automated coverage solution, but still topped by a traditional SBP member. Comstock Park has produced 89 events to date this year, followed by three Pixellot schools – Freeland (76), Plainwell (76) and Macomb Lutheran North (71).
For live page views, the top four schools were Dollar Bay, Lake Orion, Norway and Calumet. Dollar Bay and Norway are dedicated Pixellot schools, while Calumet produces games with traditional crews and Pixellot.
Here is the complete list by categories of the schools and students being honored in this year’s SBP Excellence Awards:
Best Highlight
First Place – Montrose - Eric Vandefifer, David Sackrider, Peyton Hobson, Tanner Sims – Football game v. Birch Run.
Second Place – Negaunee - Thomas Bagley, Chaz Bluse, Alec Johnson – Gymnastics meet v. Super Seven co-op.
Third Place – Montrose - Danny Sackrider, Steven Folsom, Taylor Burke Pennington, Randall Smith – Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.
Best Multicamera Production
First Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer, John Blackford, Kenzie Bishop – MHSAA District Wrestling Finals.
Second Place – Lake Orion – WDBC Staff – Boys Basketball game v. Oxford.
Third Place – Lake Orion – WDBC Staff – Boys Basketball game v. Rochester.
Best Student Play-By-Play
First Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer and David Sackrider – Football game v. Birch Run.
Second Place – Montrose – Eric Vandefifer and David Sackrider – JV Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.
Third Place – Lake Orion – Ben Wellman and Ted Hirschfield – Boys Basketball game v. Rochester.
Best Produced Commercial/Feature
First Place – Montrose – Jared Adams, Maddie Pyrc, John Blackford – Conlee Oil Company Commercial.
Second Place – Montrose – Jared Adams, Molly Dunton, David Sackrider – Hamilton’s RV Commercial.
Best Single Camera Production with PlayOn! Graphics
First Place - Montrose – David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson, Taylor Burke-Pennington – Football game v. Birch Run.
Second Place – Negaunee – Colton Yesney, Carter Richardson, Robby Williams, Peyton Anderson – Girls Volleyball match v. Gwinn.
Third Place – Montrose - David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson, Taylor Burke-Pennington - JV Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.
Best Use of PlayOn! Graphics/Software
First Place - Montrose – David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson, Taylor Burke-Pennington – Football Game v. Birch Run.
Second Place – Lake Orion - Ben Wellman, Isabella Larsen, Micah Williams, Samuel Jenkins – Boys Basketball game v. Clarkston.
Third Place – Montrose - David Sackrider, Eric Vandefifer, Tanner Sims, Peyton Hobson,Taylor Burke-Pennington - JV Boys Basketball game v. Genesee Christian.
Montrose also was honored this spring by the NFHS Network with the Best Live Sports Broadcast of the 2017-18 school year. Its production of a regular-season football game with Birch Run, won by Montrose in overtime, took top honors.
In its ninth 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.
The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.
A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA website.
PHOTOS: (Top) Montrose’s Eric Vandefifer interviews three of his school’s wrestlers who qualified for the MHSAA Individual Finals, during a basketball telecast in March. (Middle) Montrose SBP students take in Tigers Student Media Day this spring.