Streaming Season Begins on MHSAA TV
August 20, 2019
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
A new school year brings with it the start of more live streaming video of high school sporting events than ever before and a new website look for viewers on the NFHS Network and MHSAA.tv.
The NFHS Network Website and the member state high school association pages under that umbrella have been revamped for 2019-20, with an interface that improves functionality on desktop and laptop computers, as well as handheld devices.
Throughout the course of the school year, the number of schools appearing online will grow as more member schools will be installing Pixellot – the NFHS Network’s automated streaming solution – in stadiums and gymnasiums. More than 100 schools have signed up to install Pixellot units over the past few months.
This is the first full week of programming by MHSAA Members participating in the School Broadcast Program – either as a Pixellot or a traditionally-producing program giving students the hands-on opportunity to learn video production skills. Here’s a list of the upcoming varsity level events taking place over the coming week:
Tuesday - Aug. 20
Boys Soccer - Stevensville Lakeshore v. Edwardsburg - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer – Comstock Park at Grand Rapids Catholic Central – 6:40 PM
Boys Soccer - Novi v. Howell - 7 PM
Wednesday - Aug. 21
Boys Soccer - Cedar Springs v. Howard City Tri County - 5 PM
Girls Volleyball - Stevensville Lakeshore v. TBA - 5:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Freeland v. Hemlock - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Utica v. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep - 7:30 PM
Thursday - Aug. 22
Boys Soccer - Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood v. Brandon - 4:30 PM
Boys Soccer - South Lyon East v. Pinckney - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Brighton v. Canton - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Novi v. Northville - 7 PM
Friday - Aug. 23
Girls Volleyball - Fremont v. White Cloud - 8:30 AM
Girls Volleyball - Otisville LakeVille v. Vassar - 11:30 AM
Boys Soccer - Maple City Glen Lake v. Traverse City Christian - 3:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Manchester v. Michigan Center - 5:30 PM
Saturday - Aug. 24
Girls Volleyball – Waterford Our Lady v. TBA - 8:30 AM
Girls Volleyball - Linden v. TBA - 8:30 AM
Girls Volleyball – Mt. Morris v. Oscoda - 8:30 AM
Girls Volleyball - Pellston v. Mancelona - 8:30 AM
Girls Volleyball - Bad Axe v. Deckerville Community - 9 AM
Boys Soccer - Ithaca v. TBA - 10 AM
Boys Soccer - Ovid-Elsie v. Laingsburg - 10 AM
Boys Soccer - Stevensville Lakeshore v. Ortonville Brandon - 11 AM
Boys Soccer - Ithaca v. Greenville - 1:30 PM
Boys Soccer - Ithaca v. TBA - 3 PM
Boys Soccer - Ovid-Elsie v. Perry - 4 PM
Girls Volleyball - Pellston v. Boyne City - 5 PM
Monday - Aug. 26
Girls Volleyball – Ann Arbor Greenhills v. Whitmore Lake - 9 AM
Boys Soccer - Maple City Glen Lake v. Charlevoix - 5 PM
Girls Field Hockey - Novi v. Ann Arbor Pioneer - 5 PM
Boys Soccer - Ithaca v. Birch Run - 5:30 PM
Boys Soccer - St. Clair Shores Lake Shore v. Clawson - 6 PM
Boys Soccer - Freeland v. Alma - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Howell v. Hartland - 7 PM
Tuesday - Aug. 27
Girls Volleyball - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep v. TBA - 1 PM
Boys Soccer - Ovid-Elsie v. Byron Center Charter School - 5 PM
Girls Volleyball - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep v. TBA - 5 PM
Boys Soccer - Manchester v. Brooklyn Columbia Central - 5:30 PM
Girls Volleyball – Bloom. Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart v. Southfield Christian - 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer – Cedar Springs v. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern – 6:30 PM
Boys Soccer – Troy Athens v. Berkley - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Novi v. Salem - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - South Lyon v. Milford - 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Troy v. Clarkston - 7 PM
Boys Soccer – Birmingham Seaholm v. Bloomfield Hills – 7 PM
Boys Soccer - Lapeer v. Pontiac Notre Dame Prep - 7:30 PM ?
In addition, there are a number of sub-varsity contests and non-athletic events from school board meetings to daily school newscasts being streamed. Visit the MHSAA.tv Website for complete information.
Football games will begin as early as Aug. 28 with sub-varsity contests, and Aug. 29 with varsity games. The NFHS Network launches its Michigan schedule Aug. 29 with its annual coverage of the Prep Kickoff Classic in Detroit.
The Prep Kickoff Classic, conducted by the Detroit Sports Commission, is in its 15th year and takes place at Tom Adams Field on the campus of Wayne State University. Here’s the complete schedule:
Thursday - Aug. 29
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice v. Utica Eisenhower, 4 p.m.
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley v. Saline, 7 p.m.
Friday - Aug. 30
Birmingham Groves v. Grosse Pointe South, 4 p.m.
Muskegon v. Warren De La Salle, 7 p.m.
Saturday - Aug. 31
Detroit Catholic Central v. Detroit Martin Luther King, 1 p.m.
Detroit Cass Tech v. Chicago Wendell Phillips Academy, 4 p.m.
The NFHS Network also is working with FOX Sports Detroit to help promote the 2019 edition of Football Week In Michigan by making the games available to cable or satellite subscribers of that channel on FOX Sports GO!
In addition, the NFHS Network will send a School Broadcast Program crew to Atwood Stadium in Flint to cover the third annual Vehicle City Gridiron Classic. Here’s the schedule:
Thursday - Aug. 29
Grand Blanc v. Midland Dow, 4 p.m.
Goodrich v. Flint Powers Catholic, 7 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 30
Otisville LakeVille v. North Branch, 4 p.m.
Flint Carman-Ainsworth v. Port Huron, 7 p.m.
Now in its 11th 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. Pixellot – The NFHS Network’s automated streaming solution – is used by schools wishing to live stream games but lacking the ability to staff the events. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.
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 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.
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.