2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee Final - Most-Viewed Ever on 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 ever 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

Kansas 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.