WASHINGTON, May 30 (UPI) -- ABC is banking on the National Spelling Bee staged annually in Washington to spell s-u-c-c-e-s-s with viewers.
"Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts will host Thursday when young spellers go for the title on prime time TV for the first time in the 79-year history of the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
ABC Executive Vice President Andrea Wong -- who struck gold with the U.S. version of Britain's "Dancing With the Stars" -- said the Bee's ratings are not an issue, at least this time around.
"The ratings are not that important," she told the Times. "We're building a franchise, and that will require momentum over time."
Wong expressed confidence the young spellers will win over viewers' hearts.
"These are amazingly determined kids who have spent hours and hours every day practicing for this one moment of the year," she said. "They're all incredibly likable kids that you're rooting for. These aren't nerds; they are intellectual athletes."
