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

• JV Girls Volleyball - Northville at Howell  - 4:55 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Hanover-Horton at Manchester  - 5 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball - Byron at Ovid-Elsie  - 5:30 PM
• Boys Soccer - Fowlerville at Williamston  - 5:30 PM
• Freshman Girls Volleyball - Byron at Ovid-Elsie  - 5:30 PM
• Freshman Girls Volleyball - Bay City at Saginaw Heritage  - 5:30 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball - Bay City at Saginaw Heritage  - 5:30 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Northville at Howell  - 6:25 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Byron at Ovid-Elsie  - 6:30 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball - Hanover-Horton at Manchester  - 7 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Bay City at Saginaw Heritage  - 7 PM
• Girls Volleyball – Breckenridge at Vestaburg – 7 PM

Wednesday - Sept. 19 

• Freshman Girls Volleyball – Parchment at Kalamazoo Christian – 4:30 PM
• Freshman Girls Volleyball - Birch Run at Freeland  - 5 PM
• JV Field Hockey - Hartland at Saline  - 5:30 PM
• Boys Soccer - Vicksburg at Plainwell  - 5:45 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball - Birch Run at Freeland  - 6 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Birch Run at Freeland  - 7 PM
• Field Hockey - Hartland at Saline  - 7 PM

Thursday - Sept. 20

• Freshman Football – Dowagiac at Plainwell – 4:15 PM
• JV Football – Portage Central at Stevensville Lakeshore – 4:20 PM
• Freshman Football - Plymouth at Novi  - 4:30 PM
• Freshman Football - Midland Dow at Saginaw Heritage  - 4:30 PM
• Freshman Football - Belleville at Saline  - 4:30 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball – Grand Rapids West Catholic at Comstock Park  - 5 PM
• Girls Volleyball – Quad with Michigan Center, Hudson, Whitmore at Manchester  - 5 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball - Belleville at Ann Arbor Greenhills  - 5:30 PM
• JV Boys Soccer – Temperance Bedford at Saline  - 5:30 PM
• JV Football - New Lothrop at Ovid-Elsie  - 6 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball - Ishpeming at Norway  - 6 PM
• Girls Volleyball – Grand Rapids West Catholic at Comstock Park  - 6 PM
• JV Football - Dowagiac at Plainwell  - 6 PM
• JV Football - Calumet at Norway  - 6:30 PM
• JV Football - Plymouth at Novi  - 6:30 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Belleville at Ann Arbor Greenhills  - 6:30 PM
• JV Football - Midland Dow at Saginaw Heritage  - 6:30 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Birmingham Seaholm at Lake Orion  - 7 PM
• Boys Soccer - Temperance Bedford at Saline  - 7 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Birmingham Seaholm at Lake Orion - 7 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Ishpeming at Norway  - 7:15 PM

Friday - Sept. 21

• Freshman Boys Soccer - Plymouth at Saline  - 4 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Baraga at Dollar Bay  - 4:45 PM
• Football - Hartland at Howell  - 6:55 PM
• Football – Coleman at Vestaburg – 7 PM
• Football - Davison at Grand Blanc  - 7 PM
• Football - Lansing Eastern at Fowlerville  - 7 PM
• Football - Lake Orion at West Bloomfield  - 7 PM
• Football - Napoleon at Manchester  - 7 PM
• Football – Standish-Sterling at Freeland  - 7 PM
• Football - Carrollton at Frankenmuth  - 7 PM
• Football - Spring Lake at Comstock Park  - 7 PM
• Football - Canton at Brighton  - 7 PM
• Football – Ann Arbor Skyline at Saline  - 7 PM
• Football - Norway at Calumet  - 7 PM
• Football - Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at Warren DeLaSalle  - 7 PM
• Football - Petoskey at Marquette  - 7 PM

Saturday - Sept. 22

• Girls Volleyball – Novi Invitational  - 8 AM
• JV Girls Volleyball – TBA at Ovid-Elsie  - 8:30 AM
• Girls Volleyball - Saginaw Heritage  - 8:30 AM
• Girls Volleyball - Frankenmuth Invitational - 8:30 AM
• JV Boys Soccer - Mattawan at Plainwell  - 8:45 AM
• Football - Walled Lake Central at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood - 1 PM
• Boys Soccer - Mattawan at Plainwell  - 10:15 PM

Monday - Sept. 24

• Middle School Girls Volleyball - Wyoming Lee at Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian - 4:15 PM
• Field Hockey - Dexter at Novi  - 4:30 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball - Goodrich at Grand Blanc  - 5:30 PM
• Middle School Girls Volleyball - Wyoming Lee at Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian - 5:30 PM
• Freshman Girls Volleyball - Goodrich at Grand Blanc  - 5:30 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball - Saginaw Valley Lutheran at Frankenmuth  - 5:30 PM
• Freshman Girls Volleyball – Saginaw Valley Lutheran at Frankenmuth  - 5:30 PM
• JV Field Hockey - Dexter at Novi  - 6 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball – Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian - 6:30 PM
• Girls Volleyball – Saginaw Valley Lutheran at Frankenmuth  - 7 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Goodrich at Grand Blanc  - 7 PM

Tuesday - Sept. 25

• Freshman Girls Volleyball - Lawton at Kalamazoo Christian  - 4:15 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball - Howell at Novi  - 5 PM
• Freshman Girls Volleyball - Howell at Novi  - 5 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball – Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian - 5 PM
• JV Field Hockey – Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart at Saline  - 5:30 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball - Lawton at Kalamazoo Christian  - 5:30 PM
• JV Girls Volleyball – Bark River-Harris at Norway  - 6 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Howell at Novi  - 6:30 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Bloomfield Hills at Lake Orion  - 7 PM
• Girls Volleyball - Lawton at Kalamazoo Christian  - 7 PM
• Field Hockey - Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart at Saline  - 7 PM
• Girls Volleyball – Bark River-Harris at Norway  - 7:15 PM

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.