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Season 23 of American Idol is here with new judge Carrie Underwood joining Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and host Ryan Seacrest after Katy Perry’s departure last year. Jelly Roll is also joining the Idol squad as the show’s first-ever “Artist in Residence,” where he’ll be mentoring the contestants before their live performances each week.
Want to watch the new season and catch up on episodes you may have missed? Keep reading for a breakdown of ways to watch and stream American Idol from anywhere.
American Idol Season 23: How to Watch for Free Without Cable
Season 23 of American Idol airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Because American Idol is on network television, you can watch the show with an indoor HD antenna, and through cable, satellite or a streaming subscription that has ABC.
If you’ve been itching to getting rid of cable, but don’t want to end up spending hundreds of dollars a month, there are a few ways to watch American Idol online without needing cable.
We like DirecTV, which offers access to 90+ channels, including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN, HGTV, MTV, AMC, A&E, TLC, ID, OWN, CNN, Univision and more, plus thousands of movies and shows on-demand. The subscription is free trial for five days, so you can stream American Idol and other shows for free for a limited time.
You can also watch American Idol online through a streaming service like Fubo and SlingTV, which both offer a live feed of ABC as part of its channel lineup. Fubo has a seven-day free trial that you can use to livestream American Idol online free.
How to Watch American Idol on Hulu
Those who miss Sunday’s episodes can stream it on Hulu the next day. Not subscribed? Hulu’s most popular plan is currently $9.99 per month after a free trial. Hulu also offers ad-free streaming for $18.99 per month, plus student discounts and bundle deals with Disney+ and ESPN+.
The best deal right now is this Disney+ and Hulu bundle, which is discounted to just $2.99/month for your first four months. See more details here.
Looking for live channels? Hulu + Live TV gets you 90+ channels, along with access to Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ for less than $90 a month. You can watch American Idol on Hulu with a live ABC feed.
Stream network TV shows, cable, sports and more with Hulu + Live TV, in addition to tons of movies and Hulu exclusives such as Sho-gun, Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, The Bear, Black Twitter: A People’s History, Only Murders in the Building, The Handmaid’s Tale, Death & Other Details, The Kardashians and more.
Hulu subscribers can add Starz, Max and other channels to Hulu, create up to six profiles under one account and stream from up to two different screens at the same time.
The winner of American Idol typically receives a cash prize and gets offered a record deal, though the exact details of this year’s prize has yet to be announced. Watch American Idol online with a free trial to Fubo here.
