PA House Bill 30

[Nemesis]

Pennsylvania State Representatives Marla Brown (R-Lawrence), Jim Struzzi (R-Indiana County), and Brian Smith (R-Jefferson and Indiana) have written a letter to the PIAA telling them to fix the broken broadcasting policy. The letter can be read here. Forty-five State representatives signed the letter. The matter was brought up in 2023 at a House Education Committee hearing, but nothing was done.

Have you wondered why you can't listen to games on the radio or watch them online for free as much anymore? It's because the PIAA all but killed local broadcasts. They signed an exclusivity deal with the NHFS, of which PIAA head Dr. Robert Lombardi is the Board of Directors president-elect.

MSA, now Trib HSSN, used to have multiple game streams from WPIAL schools. The WPIAL partnered with an out-of-state agency, and chose to contract with NFHS. This destroyed local broadcasts of high school games by stations around the PIttsburgh area. The Heritage Conference in District 6 broadcast many of their games on Trib HSSN, but that seems to have ceased as well.

House Bill 30 seeks to remedy the disastrous exclusivity deal by adding an amendment to a previous bill. According to the memorandum by Struzzi and Brown,

Pennsylvania high schools have signed “exclusive” video streaming contracts, with many schools unknowingly shutting the door on local broadcasters who have been covering these school districts for many years, with out-of-state companies. This results in fans being alienated and our local broadcasters being cut out in a time when staying connected to our local communities is becoming more difficult.

You can read the proposed amendment here, and the memorandum here

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Of a related note, the PIAA is paid a paltry $150,000 per year by PCN to broadcast the state championships. You can read the contract on thePA Treasury website. The PIAA was supposed to have submitted all their contracts to be publicly viewable by the end of March, but so far I have only seen a limited number that have been published. Why is it that I can watch the West Virginia football championships online, for free, and they have significantly higher production quality? The PIAA championships broadcasting setup and distribution system is horrifically antiquated.

I'm tired of Bob Lombardi seemingly playing dumb about everything. He's an un-elected bureaucrat that shifts the blame onto other people at every turn. Nothing is his fault, despite him being the leader of the PIAA. It's all the system. Nothing can be changed. Save a buck here, and don't listen to the people of the state asking for changes. Representative Rob Matzie out of Beaver County has proposed adding lawmakers onto the PIAA executive board. I hope it happens. Maybe then something will be accomplished, rather than the same old same old every year.

[Manfred]

I have a yearly NFHS ssubscription, now @ $80/ yr. I believe. Since Covid. Not priced outrageous, but anytime I watch a game regardless of football, basketball, etc., there is never any audio broadcast except for semi-finals and finals. There is an open audio feed, because you can hear all the normal noise, cheers, etc. from the crowds. In some cases like the BMCHS gym on Osborne St., the camera is mounted on top the folding gym doors, and you can NOT see the scoreboards except for those couple brief seconds when the camera pans OUT to view the whole gym. There are a number of football stadium cams that are horrible, like JHS on a sunny afternoon, the glare from the sun all but eliminates watching play on the entrance side of the field. Penn Cambria seems like a split cam, with one side in focus, the other side out of focus. Does no one check these things?

[CCDevil2012]

I have a yearly NFHS ssubscription, now @ $80/ yr. I believe. Since Covid. Not priced outrageous, but anytime I watch a game regardless of football, basketball, etc., there is never any audio broadcast except for semi-finals and finals. There is an open audio feed, because you can hear all the normal noise, cheers, etc. from the crowds. In some cases like the BMCHS gym on Osborne St., the camera is mounted on top the folding gym doors, and you can NOT see the scoreboards except for those couple brief seconds when the camera pans OUT to view the whole gym. There are a number of football stadium cams that are horrible, like JHS on a sunny afternoon, the glare from the sun all but eliminates watching play on the entrance side of the field. Penn Cambria seems like a split cam, with one side in focus, the other side out of focus. Does no one check these things?

I wish more schools were on par with Bald Eagle. Outside of the very biased commentary, they put together a very nice broadcast and do it for free on YouTube. In this day and age of technology it is crazy that we don’t have more options as fans, and the options we do have are sub par.

On the flip side, I wish we could go back to the days of packed stands at every game across the state.

[Manfred]

I agree, and the ability to decide at the last minute to go to a playoff game, and walk up to a window and buy a ticket.

[Goldeneagles12]

I have a yearly NFHS ssubscription, now @ $80/ yr. I believe. Since Covid. Not priced outrageous, but anytime I watch a game regardless of football, basketball, etc., there is never any audio broadcast except for semi-finals and finals. There is an open audio feed, because you can hear all the normal noise, cheers, etc. from the crowds. In some cases like the BMCHS gym on Osborne St., the camera is mounted on top the folding gym doors, and you can NOT see the scoreboards except for those couple brief seconds when the camera pans OUT to view the whole gym. There are a number of football stadium cams that are horrible, like JHS on a sunny afternoon, the glare from the sun all but eliminates watching play on the entrance side of the field. Penn Cambria seems like a split cam, with one side in focus, the other side out of focus. Does no one check these things?

I wish more schools were on par with Bald Eagle. Outside of the very biased commentary, they put together a very nice broadcast and do it for free on YouTube. In this day and age of technology it is crazy that we don’t have more options as fans, and the options we do have are sub par.

On the flip side, I wish we could go back to the days of packed stands at every game across the state.

Bias? Lol They are not bias (sarcasm). When it comes to streaming the games Bald Eagle is very good. NFHS is a joke. The camera angle usually sucks. No announcing and scoreboard at the bottom usually isn't updated with the scores. PCNs coverage I think is pretty good. They usually stay on top of the plays and action. Cameras are good. Now i do prefer the guys that did the coverage in the 90s they were great.

[CCDevil2012]

I wish more schools were on par with Bald Eagle. Outside of the very biased commentary, they put together a very nice broadcast and do it for free on YouTube. In this day and age of technology it is crazy that we don’t have more options as fans, and the options we do have are sub par.

On the flip side, I wish we could go back to the days of packed stands at every game across the state.

Bias? Lol They are not bias (sarcasm). When it comes to streaming the games Bald Eagle is very good. NFHS is a joke. The camera angle usually sucks. No announcing and scoreboard at the bottom usually isn't updated with the scores. PCNs coverage I think is pretty good. They usually stay on top of the plays and action. Cameras are good. Now i do prefer the guys that did the coverage in the 90s they were great.

I expect bias haha, but they usually sound like 2 parents complaining about a call every other play. “That wasn’t a penalty” “that was a penalty” “that wasn’t this/that/etc”, the problem is they’re on YouTube so it’s pretty easy to see if the call was correct.

[Husker33]

It would be amazing if PCN could actually broadcast in HD. The feed still appears to be SD.

[Goldeneagles12]

I wish more schools were on par with Bald Eagle. Outside of the very biased commentary, they put together a very nice broadcast and do it for free on YouTube. In this day and age of technology it is crazy that we don’t have more options as fans, and the options we do have are sub par.

On the flip side, I wish we could go back to the days of packed stands at every game across the state.

Bias? Lol They are not bias (sarcasm). When it comes to streaming the games Bald Eagle is very good. NFHS is a joke. The camera angle usually sucks. No announcing and scoreboard at the bottom usually isn't updated with the scores. PCNs coverage I think is pretty good. They usually stay on top of the plays and action. Cameras are good. Now i do prefer the guys that did the coverage in the 90s they were great.

I expect bias haha, but they usually sound like 2 parents complaining about a call every other play. “That wasn’t a penalty” “that was a penalty” “that wasn’t this/that/etc”, the problem is they’re on YouTube so it’s pretty easy to see if the call was correct.

Haha they do sound like two parents.

[MikeFLN]

This is good news imo. I also hope this also addresses Flo having the wrestling Championships. Flo has the worst production there is. I am grateful Flo covers all rounds, but it would be nice if Flo and PCN shared the championship round. PCN showed the parade of champions, Flo doesn't. Flo for a much higher price entity also sucks with the screen freezing.