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Jan 26, 2026 12:32pm PT

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How to Watch ‘American Idol’ Season 24 Online Without Cable

By Arushi Jacob

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Arushi Jacob

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How to Watch 'American Idol' Season 24 Online Without Cable

Disney / Christopher Willard

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“American Idol” is ready to find its next superstar. The singing competition series returns for Season 24 on Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. ET with the show shifting to a new weekly Monday night schedule.

$35 $69.99 50% off

GET: SLING ORANGE + BLUE SUBSCRIPTION

Ryan Seacrest returns as the show’s host while aspiring singers audition and compete for a chance at winning a recording contract and a $250,000 prize.

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Singers Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan, and Carrie Underwood all return as the season’s judges. Richie and Bryan have been on the panel since 2018, while Underwood, who won season 4 of “Idol,” took over for Katy Perry after the popstar’s exit in 2024.

This season’s ‘Hollywood Week’ event will take place in Nashville, TN, instead of Los Angeles. Now named “Hollywood Week: Music City Takeover,” the event will consist of a single round of competition instead of the usual multiple round format. The Top 20 will then perform at Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii, before moving back to L.A. as the finalists performance for the audience’s vote.

Want to watch the new season of “American Idol?” Season 24 airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET via ABC. You can watch “American Idol” on TV through your local ABC station. Don’t have cable? You can also watch “American Idol” online through Sling, a live TV streaming service that includes an ABC feed in most locations.

GET SLING BLUE SUBSCRIPTION $54.99

ABC is included as part of the Sling Blue package, which offers more than 40 other live TV channels that you can watch online without cable.

Currently, Sling Blue starts at just $54.99/month if you go month-to-month. The package includes ABC, FOX, and NBC, in addition to channels like Bravo, Discovery, E!, FX, SYFY, TLC, USA, truTV, CNN, MSNBC, National Geographic, A&E, AMC, Comedy Central, Food Network, HGTV, History Channel, TBS, and TNT. Sports fans will like the Sling Blue also includes NFL Network & FS1.

In addition, Sling TV has an Orange + Blue combination plan for increased access, with more than 50 channels that you can livestream online. This is the best Sling deal right now, with new users able to get their first month of Sling Orange + Blue for 50% off.

$35 $69.99 50% off

GET: SLING ORANGE + BLUE SUBSCRIPTION

Sling also offers flexible subscriptions so brand new subscribers can get access to Sling Blue for a short period of time to watch “American Idol,” live sports and more programming online. A Sling 1-Day Pass costs just $4.99 to get Sling Blue for 24 hours; a Sling 3-Day Pass is $9.99; and a Sling 7-Day Pass is just $14.99 to have access to Sling Blue for a full week.

All Sling TV plans offer hundreds of on-demand movie and TV shows, 50 hours of cloud DVR storage and up to three streams across devices — such as smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, laptops, web browsers and others — at the same time.

Sign up for Sling Blue to livestream “American Idol” Monday nights on ABC without needing a cable subscription. See more details here.

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