The 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals aired Thursday night with many viewers taking to social media to express their irritation at the broadcast and calling it the "worst #SpellingBee final" they've ever seen.
Back in October, organizers announced that, after 27 years, the spelling bee was leaving ESPN to move to the Scripps-owned broadcast networks Ion and Bounce. However, that move caused a flood of complaints Thursday, as some fans found themselves annoyed by the number of commercial breaks as well as the frequent hosting commentary. Here are just some of the tweets from angry viewers:
Worst #SpellingBee ever! Practically unwatchable with all of the commercials and unnecessary commentary. The vocabulary round this late in the game is also ridiculous. It's a spelling bee not a vocabulary bee.
— Katie Hanway (@KHanway13) June 3, 2022
Hey @ScrippsBee: this is the WORST #SpellingBee final I’ve seen since I started watching in the mid 90s and it’s all because of your stupid new rules and the 45 minutes of ads per hour on the broadcast. These kids deserve way better. Absolute trash bee.
— The Ⓐtomic Ⓔlbow (@atomic_elbow) June 3, 2022
Please stop@with all the commercials! We get one speller and then 3/4 commercials. I’ve watched the Bee for at least 25 years and this is the worst broadcast ever! @iontv A disservice to these hard working children! #SpellingBee
— justg (@beth_lyman) June 3, 2022
They are literally spelling one word every ten minutes. This coverage is terrible. #SpellingBee
— Sara (@plutoflamingo) June 3, 2022
We would also love to watch the two spellers spell back to back. But #ion has decided instead we need to only watch commercials #spellingbee
— Kevin (Friedman) Kingman (@friedman_kevin) June 3, 2022
Others blamed the disjointedness of the broadcast on the move to Ion from ESPN, and wished that it was back on the cable sports channel. Not that that would have even been possible since the time slot on ESPN was occupied with Game 1 of the NBA Finals, during which the Boston Celtics beat the Golden State Warriors 120-108! But I digress. Here are a few tweets shared by viewers who blamed Thursday night's spelling bee broadcast on the transition from ESPN to Ion:
the bee finals experience this year has been one of the roughest in my memory. i'm sure a good deal of it is the transition away from ESPN but the entire thing has felt disjointed and unfun to watch :/ #spellingbee
— the smallest possible e (@cel10e) June 3, 2022
Never thought I'd say this, but I miss ESPN's Scripps Spelling Bee! They are spelling a word every ten minutes, with all this added crap. #SpellingBee
— Michelle Williams (@mlwilliams614) June 3, 2022
I can’t believe I’m saying this but coverage of the #SpellingBee was so much better on ESPN. Take away the “announcer booth” segments and focus on the kids. P-L-E-A-S-E.
— 614vballdad (@614vballdad) June 3, 2022
On the other hand, there were also many positive tweets congratulating this year's winner — 14-year-old Harini Logan, an eighth-grader from San Antonio, who correctly spelled 21 words in a first-time ever sudden-death spell-off!
The 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals aired Thursday, June 2, at 5 p.m. on ION.
Watch the National Spell Bee champion being decided on by a blazing fast, first-ever spell-off:
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