Fans are majorly unhappy over the way ION aired the 2022 National Spelling Bee finals

Yahoo Entertainment

The 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals faced a good amount of backlash as it aired Thursday night with a lot of people taking to social media feeling really irritated by the broadcast and calling it the worst spelling bee they've ever seen.

Back in October of 2021, it was 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 lot of complaints Thursday, as some fans found themselves annoyed by the number of commercial breaks as well as the frequent hosting commentary.

Others blamed the disjointedness of the broadcast on the fact that the competition left 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.

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, Texas, who correctly spelled 22 words in a first-time ever sudden-death spell-off!

Video Transcript

- Ornithorhynchus

HARINI LOGAN: O-R-N-I-T-H-O-R-H-Y-N-C-H-U-S.

[BING]

- Nandubay.

HARINI LOGAN: N-A-N-D-U-B-A-Y

[BING]

- Moorhen.

HARINI LOGAN: M-O-O-R-H-E-N.

[BING]

[APPLAUSE]

KYLIE MAR: The 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals aired Thursday night with a lot of people taking to social media feeling really irritated by the broadcast and calling it the worst spelling bee they've seen. Back in October, it was announced that after 27 years, the spelling bee was leaving ESPN to move to the Scripps owned broadcast networks Ion and Bounce, a move that caused a lot of complaints Thursday as some viewers found themselves annoyed by the many commercial breaks and called the coverage terrible.

One person tweeted, "Worse spelling bee 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."

- A bit tricky.

- D-I-T-A-L-I-N-I, ditalini.

- That is correct, thank you.

- Unless you're Harini who knows ditalini, sometimes there's a double consonant, sometimes it's "e" instead.

KYLIE MAR: Others blamed the disjointedness of the broadcast on the fact that the competition left ESPN and wished that it was back on the cable sports channel. One person shared, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but coverage of the spelling bee was so much better on ESPN. Take away the 'announcer booth' segments and focus on the kids. P-L-E-A-S-E." On the other hand, there were also many positive tweets congratulating this year's winner, 14-year-old Harini Logan, who correctly spelled 22 words in a historical sudden death spell off.

- Harini, you are the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion. Congratulations.

- --our winner. She is the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion.