(KGTV) — When spelling is your passion, there is no better place to unleash it than on one stage.
E.W. Scripps plans to air the finals and semifinals of its 95th National Spelling Bee on six of its national networks. Preliminaries will begin May 30, semifinals and quarterfinals are scheduled for May 31, and finals will take place June 1.
This year, the Bee will welcome 231 spellers, ranging in age from 9 to 14-years-old.
Spellers will represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense Schools in Europe. Spellers will also represent three countries outside the U.S.: the Bahamas, Canada and Ghana.
Preliminary rounds of the Bee will be streamed on Ion Plus, Bounce XL and spellingbee.com on May 30, with quarter finals streaming on the morning of May 31.
The finals will take place on June 1 and air live on Ion and Bounce in primetime. Scripps will also show the conclusion of the competition on Defy TV, Grit, Ion Mystery and Laff. A rebroadcast will be available on Scripps News on June 2.
This year the semifinalists get a $500 gift card. The finalists get a few thousand dollars ranging from $2,500 to $25,000. The champion gets $50,000, the trophy, more money and a reference library from Merriam-Webster, and more gifts from Encyclopædia Britannica, including a 1768 Replica Set.
