Scripps National Spelling Bee TV schedule 2013 includes live coverage May 29-30 on ESPN3, ESPN2, ESPN and WatchESPN. Online coverage on ESPN3 includes a play-along version in which viewers can watch without seeing the word until the last second. Sage Steele hosts with Paul A. Loeffler returning as the TV word analyst. Samantha Ponder reports. More details of ESPN’s coverage are available from the network’s press release.
This year, 281 spellers come to the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md., in the Washington, D.C., area from eight countries and Department of Defense Schools in Europe and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. New this year, a computer-based vocabulary evaluation will account for 50 percent of a speller’s overall score, which determines which spellers advance to the semifinals. The vocabulary component should make it more difficult to reach the semifinal round and weed out some spellers who rely solely on memorization. Last year, Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego won the bee by spelling “guetapens,” a French-derived word that means ambush, snare or trap.
Scripps National Spelling Bee TV schedule 2013
All times Eastern.
Wednesday, May 29
Preliminary Round 2 & Play-Along Version, 8-11:45am, ESPN3
Preliminary Round 3 & Play-Along Version, 1:15-6:15pm, ESPN3
Thursday, May 30
Semifinals Rounds 5-6 & Play-Along Version, 2-5pm, ESPN2/WatchESPN
Championship Finals & Play-Along Version, 8-10pm, ESPN/WatchESPN