ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes is set to host the Scripps National Spelling Bee, aiming to inject a "big-game feel" into the century-old competition. Her appointment, announced on Tuesday, marks her as the first celebrity host since LeVar Burton in 2022, a year that saw Scripps take over the broadcast from ESPN and air it on its own networks, ION and Bounce.
The move comes as Scripps seeks to revitalise the event's viewership, which has seen a decline despite the shift to networks with broader household reach. Nielsen data indicates a combined audience for the primetime finals on ION and Bounce of 609,000 in 2022, 641,000 in 2023, 461,000 in 2024, and 488,000 last year.
This contrasts sharply with the over 1 million viewers the bee attracted on ESPN in 2012, and pre-pandemic figures of 606,000 (2017), 550,000 (2018), and 559,000 (2019).
To address this, Scripps has also enlisted a new production team, spearheaded by Michael Davies, the executive producer of "Jeopardy!". Davies, whose extensive credits include "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "Reading Rainbow," shares Kimes' enthusiasm for the bee.
He told The Associated Press his objective is to "make it bigger and make it more famous." He added: "We really need to focus the entire broadcast and everything we're doing around the stakes of the competition and the incredible winning moment, the winning word that happens at the end of the final."
Kimes, a 40-year-old Yale-educated journalist, is known for her meticulous research and analysis of NFL game footage, dissecting player and coach performance. She revealed her preparation for the spelling bee has followed a similar rigorous pattern. "My goal in this is to give it the big-game feel," Kimes told The Associated Press. "Any event that requires skill and knowledge and preparation can have that feel if it's presented with enough care and pride on television."
She elaborated on her approach: "It honestly does feel a little bit like watching game tape because I really think these kids are elite competitors, not just in terms of being the best of the best, but you can see all of the work that they so clearly put in. The way they get to the right answer is fascinating to me and the more you watch, the more you see the way their brains work. I see a lot of similarities to what I do with football, and I'm so pumped to be a part of this."
While Kimes never reached the national stage, she has a personal history with spelling bees, having won at school level in the second, third, and fifth grades. This year's competition, featuring 247 spellers vying for a trophy and over $50,000 in prizes, will take place from 26-28 May at its new venue, Constitution Hall in downtown Washington.
Spellers qualify by winning regional bees and can compete up to the eighth grade. The intense nature of the competition means even the most talented children, many of whom train year-round with paid coaches, often have only a limited number of opportunities to win this prestigious English language spelling contest before they age out.
In recent years, Scripps has predominantly featured former spellers as on-air hosts and commentators. Paul Loeffler, a sports broadcaster and former speller whose brother, Corrie Loeffler, is the bee's executive director, will return as an analyst.
The new team hopes their combined expertise and fresh perspective will reignite public interest and elevate the profile of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
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