2023 marks the 95th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, in which hundreds of young spellers compete in a national championship. This year 231 spellers represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense Schools in Europe, as well as the countries of the Bahamas, Canada, and Ghana, in the competition. Through four segments, they work towards the Scripps Cup: the Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals. The Semifinals and Finals will be on May 31 and June 1, respectively, airing on ION. Read on for more on how to watch the finals live.
- When Does the Scripps National Spelling Bee Air: The Scripps National Spelling Bee Semifinals air on May 31 at 8:00 ET and the Finals air live on Thursday, June 1, at 8:00 ET.
- TV Network: The Scripps National Spelling Bee streams live on ION.
- Best Way to Stream Scripps National Spelling Bee: You can watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee through services that carry ION, one of the most affordable of which is Frndly TV (1-week trial).
Watch The Scripps National Spelling Bee on Frndly TV
Frndly TV is the most affordable way to watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Ion. A subscription to Frndly TV starts at $6.99 per month. However, we find their $8.99 per month “Classic Plan” is the best value as it includes the following:
- Over 20 of Channels Live TV & On-Demand
- HD Video Quality
- Watch on 2 Screens at a Time
- Unlimited DVR recordings. You can keep recordings for 3 Months
- Supported on Apple TV, Roku, Roku TVs, Amazon Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android and iOS mobile devices, and most major web browsers
You can try their service with no commitment using this 1-week trial or reading our review of Frndly TV.
Watch The Scripps National Spelling Bee with DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM added ION to its channel lineup in May of 2022, making it a great way to watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Channel packages with ION start at $79.99 per month for the services “Entertainment” channel plan. A subscription to DIRECTV STREAM includes the following:
- watch 20 streams simultaneously per subscription
- a cloud-based DVR
- channels like ION and more
- supported on Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon FireTV, and more
You can check out this streaming service through this online offer or read about it in our DIRECTV STREAM review. The service provides a 5-day free trial when signing up.
Watch The Scripps National Spelling Bee with YouTube TV
The Scripps National Spelling Bee on Ion is available on YouTube TV in its channel lineup for $72.99 per month.
YouTube TV provides:
- access to Ion, Local Network Channels, and over 70 other channels
- unlimited cloud DVR storage
- stream on three devices at once
- YouTube TV supports Roku, Android, iOS, Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast, and more.
- Includes YouTube TV on-demand
- offers a 1-week free trial.
Check our review of YouTube TV for more details. They also offer a 1-week free trial.
Watch The Scripps National Spelling Bee with FuboTV
FuboTV is a streaming service that provides access to quite a few pay-TV channels. You can watch the channels live as they would air on cable TV, and you can record programs on their cloud DVR. They provide Ion, as well as over 80 other channels as part of their base package.
All this is included with the base package. It’s $74.99. There is no commitment, and you can cancel at any time. A subscription to fuboTV includes:
- Ion, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, HGTV, and more are available in fuboTV’s channel lineup
- You can watch on three screens at the same time
- 250 hours of cloud DVR storage
- The FuboTV app is available on major platforms, including Apple TV, AndroidTV, Roku, and Amazon FireTV.
How To Watch Ion TV without Cable
There are two ways you can watch Ion TV without having to subscribe to a satellite or cable T.V. provider. You can watch Ion TV over the air using a T.V. antenna.
Watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Ion TV with an Antenna
If you live in a T.V. market that carries Ion TV, you can watch for free if you have a T.V. antenna. If you live in one of the T.V. Markets that carry Ion TV (see the table above) then install an indoor T.V. antenna, and tune to the T.V. channel for Ion. I recommend purchasing a T.V. antenna like the G.E. Ultra Edge antenna. As we said in our review of the G.E. Ultra Edge Indoor antenna, it provides a money-back guarantee with no questions asked if you purchase through Amazon. Purchasing an inexpensive antenna with a money-back guarantee eliminates the risk of paying too much for an antenna, setting it up, and realizing you cannot get reception for Ion TV.
As you can see, positioning your T.V. Antenna to the west will provide the best opportunity to get good Ion TV reception. For more information on using a T.V. antenna, see our guide: The Ultimate Guide to Digital T.V. Antennas.
