2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee Final – Most-Viewed in Cable Television
Thursday night’s Scripps National Spelling Bee Final on ESPN, won by 14 year-old Snigdha Nandipati from San Diego, was seen by an average audience of 1.06 million viewers, based on a 0.8 rating (802,000 household impressions), making it the most-watched Spelling Bee Final on cable television, according to the Nielsen Company.
The 2012 Spelling Bee Final, won after Nandipati spelled the winning word ‘guetapens’ – which means ambush or trap, bests the 2011 Final (June 2, 2011) and the previous cable record for viewership with 952,000 viewers, based on a 0.7 coverage rating (674,000 households).
Most-Viewed National Spelling Bee Finals on Cable:
| Date | Bee Final | Network | Cvg. Rating | P2+ (Viewers) |
| May 31, 2012 | 2012 Spelling Bee Final | ESPN | 0.8 | 1,061,000 |
| June 2, 2011 | 2011 Final | ESPN | 0.7 | 952,000 |
| June 2, 2005 | 2005 Final | ESPN | 0.5 | 750,000 |
| May 29, 1997 | 1997 Final | ESPN | 0.6 | 709,000 |
ansas City was the top market for yesterday’s Spelling Bee Final, delivering a 2.6 rating. Rounding out the top five were: Memphis (2.1), Birmingham (1.9), Norfolk (1.7), and West Palm Beach (1.6). San Diego, the winner’s hometown, ranked as tied for 8th with a 1.4 rating.
Digital:
The first two days of the Spelling Bee (May 30-31) on ESPN3 and WatchESPN across computers, smartphones, tablets and Xbox generated nearly two million minutes, up 75 percent compared to the event on ESPN3 on computers last year.
