Here’s How to Watch the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2025 Holiday Special for Free

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The holidays are never complete without iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball. The holiday music fest is a cultural staple, and now, it’s coming to you live in the comfort of your own home.

On Dec. 17, underneath the twinkle of stage lights, a slew of artists from the annual nationwide Jingle Ball tour will come together to perform in a jolly special sure to get you into the festive mood. The special, hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Elvis Duran, will feature musical acts from all different genres, from pop and K-pop to R&B and everything in between. Alex Warren, Audrey Hobert, Conan Gray, Ed Sheeran, Feid, Jessie Murph, The Kid LAROI, Laufey, Leon Thomas, MONSTA X, Myles Smith, Nelly, Olivia Dean, Ravyn Lenae, Reneé Rapp, Sean Paul and Zara Larsson are set to perform.

The special will last two hours, and gives viewers backstage access to the annual show, providing audiences a peek behind the curtain. Viewers will also be treated to special appearances by Robert De Niro, Chelsea Handler, Tiffany Haddish, Eli Manning, Oz Pearlman, the cast of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, the Nader Sisters, Kat Dennings, Dylan Efron, Daniella Karagach, Leah Kateb, Freya Skye, Taylor Momsen, Melanie C, Darren Criss and many more.

If you’re excited about the holiday special but don’t know where to start, we’ll be showing you how you can tune in with ease. Keep reading to find out how.

How to Watch iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2025 Holiday Special

The musical holiday special will be airing Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. You can watch the special a plethora of ways, however, we recommend DirectTV, Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV. If you don’t happen to catch the event live the day it airs, it will be available to stream the very next day on Hulu.

DIRECTV is a great option for those looking to stream the event. A standard subscription to DIRECTV, which gives you access to watch the special on ABC, will run you just $49.99 a month for the first month right now under the service’s ENTERTAINMENT plan. If you’re unsure about committing to a new subscription, you can simply try the service out for free for five days, which will give you plenty of time to watch the Jingle Ball special.

You’ll get access to live TV, local networks such as NBC, ABC and PBS, and you can also watch a slew of entertainment networks, including AMC, Bravo, E!, FX, FXX, Freeform, HGTV, Hallmark Channel, Lifetime and Paramount Network. That’s more than 90-plus channels that you can tap into.

iHeartRadio special is also available on Sling TV in select markets.

Sling TV is another live TV streaming option giving users the ability to access cable channels and on-demand content over the internet, making a cable subscription obsolete. To access the Jingle Ball special, you’ll need a Sling Blue subscription which is $50.99 a month. Depending on your needs, you can purchase temporary passes for a day ($4.99), weekend ($9.99), or week ($14.99) to watch the show and test out the service for a limited time. Sling Blue has more than 40-plus channels including, NBC, NFL Network, Bravo, CNN and FOX News.

Another option is a Hulu + Live TV subscription, given that BET is included in the live TV channel lineup. A subscription to the service (with ads) will cost approximately $82.99 per month, while the plan without ads goes for $95.99 per month.

This subscription gives you access to the titles in Hulu’s library, along with live TV programs 24/7. This is one of the more pricy plans on our list. However, the bundle is well worth the price because of the added Hulu titles. As previously mentioned, the special will be available the day after it airs live on Hulu, giving you double the access to the special if you have Hulu + Live TV.