It got prime time billing, but the Scripps National Spelling Bee on ABC Thursday night didn’t get an A in the ratings. Coming off the movie “Akeelah and the Bee” that thrust the world of spellers into the spot light, the National Bee got stung in the ratings and finished in third place.

Here’s a look at the numbers…8 million people tuned in the telecast, which earned a 2.2 rating/7 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen. That tied it for third place with NBC in the demo between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., when its competition was Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” reality show, CBS’s game shows and a “CSI” repeat and NBC’s four repeats of “The Office.”

The winner of the night was CBS with that brutal Gameshow Marathon and a CSI repeat. Oh, the other winner of the night was New Jersey’s Catherine Close who won with the word U-R-S-P-R-A-C-H-E.