Bee to Debut on Network TV

The ABC television network will carry live coverage next month of the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The broadcast of the championship rounds of the competition, which begins May 31, will mark the first time it has been covered on network TV, although the cable channel ESPN has televised the final rounds of the bee since 1994. The competition’s final round is scheduled to be broadcast June 1 from 8 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time; earlier rounds will be shown that day on the cable channel from noon to 3 p.m. Kenneth W. Lowe, the president and chief executive officer of the E.W. Scripps Co., said the network’s decision “affirms for us how deeply this unique event is ingrained in the American psyche.”