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Thursday Night Football is back with its biggest season yet. The Los Angeles Rams will host the Minnesota Vikings for the latest TNF game of the 2024-2025 season, streaming exclusively on Prime Video on Thursday (Oct. 24).

Like other TNF games, pregame coverage will launch at 7 p.m. ET, one hour before the Rams vs. Vikings matchup. A total of 17 games will stream on Prime Video including the Black Friday game and the NFL Wild Card Game.

Amazon secured exclusive rights to stream Thursday night NFL games on Prime Video in 2022, marking a new era for sports fans. According to The Wrap, TNF’s season opener snagged nearly 15 million viewers making it the third, most-watched TNF game in Prime Video history despite a small, one percent drop in viewership compared to last year.

Last year’s Black Friday game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins averaged around 11.18 million viewers in total but the TNF season opener hit a streaming high with 15.05 million people tuning in to watch the Philadelphia Eagles win over the Vikings (34-28). At the time, the ratings increased by two million from the previous season, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Prime Video scored another ratings high this season after Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce made a surprise appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos game last October and witnessed Kansas City triumph over the Broncos (19-8). Ratings for the game spiked to 13.83 million viewers — a 57 percent increase compared to a TNF football game around the same time last year, per Deadline. Swift also attended a TNF game this month.

The Grammy winner is no stranger to Prime Video and TNF. Swift premiered a teaser trailer for her Midnights album during a TNF game in 2022.

The Chiefs are expected to play in this year’s Black Friday game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 29, but Swift might not be there. The “Fortnight” singer will be on the road for the second leg of her Eras tour launching next month.

In other music news, Garth Brooks headlined the Amazon Music Live Concert on Black Friday last year. The Grammy winner treated fans to a “Diver-Bar” concert event live streamed from the grand opening of Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk, Brooks’ new bar in Nashville. The first-of-its-kind Black Friday concert streamed live on Prime Video and Twitch.

Amazon Music Live returned Oct. 17 with a performance from Jelly Roll. The weekly concert series airs after Thursday Night Football. Season 2 featured performances from stars such as Ed Sheeran, Lil Durk, Feid and Metro Boomin.

Viewers can log in to Prime Video to begin streaming tonight’s TNF game in addition to other football programs including previous games from last season that are available to stream right now.

Not familiar with Prime? Read on for the 2024 Thursday Night Football schedule and a step-by-step guide on how to join Amazon Prime for free.

What Is Prime Video?

Prime Video is Amazon’s streaming platform where you can watch Thursday Night Football and other sports, including NBA, MLB, WNBA, One Championship and soccer.

Additionally, Prime Video has a mega-library of movies and countless TV episodes, plus Prime Originals and a ton of sports documentaries and docuseries such as Kelce, about retired NFL player Jason Kelce featuring his brother, Travis. Also streaming on Prime: The Money Game: LSU, Coach Prime and All or Nothing featuring the Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles and other football, soccer and hockey teams.

How Much Does Prime Video Cost?

Prime Video is included with Amazon Prime memberships, but there’s also an option to join Prime Video by itself under a free, 30-day trial.

Not a Prime member? Subscribe now and get the first month free. The membership, which is $14.99 a month after the free trial, unlocks instant access to Prime Video and Amazon Music, along with free shipping on millions of products, member-only discounts and a year free membership to GrubHub+, so you can order food while you enjoy Thursday Night Football.

How to Save on Your Prime Membership

Amazon Prime’s annual membership ($139.99 a year) saves you around $40 a year. Prime also provides a 50% discount for eligible students and young adults (ages 18-24) and recipients of SNAP, Medicaid and other government assistance.

How to Watch Thursday Night Football Games on Prime Video

Prime Video is the exclusive streaming destination for Thursday Night Football. All games will begin streaming live at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Pre-game coverage starts at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. 

How to Stream Prime Video on Your TV & Other Devices

To stream Thursday Night Football, download the Prime Video app (or sign in online via Amazon.com) from a smart TV, laptop or another compatible streaming device to log into the platform. You can also save programs to your watchlist and view them later. This season, Prime Video will introduce nine AI-powered features to “enhance the NFL viewing experience,” according to Amazon.

Thursday Night Football recordings are free on Prime Video, which means that you can pause, rewind and replay any TNF games or related programming this season. The final TNF game of the year is scheduled for Dec. 26.

To help Prime members secure exclusive deals during games, Amazon offers a selection of discounts on holidays gifts, game-day gear, NLF gear for golf lovers and must-haves for tailgating parties.

See the full 2024 schedule of TNF games below.

Prime Video Thursday Night Football Schedule:

A Georgia judge is weighing whether to declare a mistrial in Young Thug’s long-running Atlanta gang trial, a move that would require prosecutors to either start from scratch or drop a case that has already lasted more than two years.

The motion for a mistrial was sparked by an incident Wednesday (Oct. 23) in which a state’s witness accidentally revealed sensitive information to the jury. Defense attorneys said the mistake was caused by prosecutor missteps, and the judge quickly chided government lawyers for “sloppiness.”

A mistrial would mean an abrupt end to a criminal trial that has stretched across 10 months of jury selection and 11 months of testimony to become the longest-ever in state history. Prosecutors have meandered through a vast list of witnesses, and the case has been beset by unusual delays — including a jailhouse stabbing of one defendant and a bizarre episode over a secret meeting that saw the presiding judge removed from the case.

Since taking over the case this summer, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker has expressed frustration with how the Fulton County District Attorney’s office has been handling the case. Last month, she blasted the prosecutors for “poor lawyering, “baffling” decisions and steps to repeatedly “hide the ball” amid a “haphazard” trial.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Whitaker refused outright to declare a mistrial with prejudice, which would have permanently ended the case. But she said she would consider doing so without prejudice, meaning prosecutors could attempt to retry their case from scratch in front of a new jury.

The specter of such an outcome has prompted prosecutors to discuss plea deals. According to X posts by Cath Russon, managing editor at Law&Crime, each defense team was set to meet individually on Thursday with District Attorney Fani Willis to discuss potential deals.

As a result of the negotiations and the pending mistrial motions, all trial proceedings before Whitaker on Thursday (Oct. 24) and Friday (Oct. 25) have been postponed and the trial is currently scheduled to resume on Monday morning (Oct. 28), according to Russon.

Thug (Jeffery Williams), a chart-topping rapper and producer who helped shape the sound of hip-hop over the past decade, was indicted in May 2022 along with dozens of others over allegations that his “YSL” was not really a record label called “Young Stoner Life” but rather a violent Atlanta gang called “Young Slime Life.” The case, built around Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law, claims the group committed murders, carjackings, armed robberies, drug dealing and other crimes over the course of a decade.

While the slow-moving trial has dragged on, Thug has been sitting in jail for more than two years, repeatedly denied bond over fears that he might intimidate witnesses. If the judge grants a mistrial and prosecutors decide to retry their case, he could have years more in jail until a verdict is reached. Such an outcome could potentially motivate defendants, too, to consider a negotiated resolution.

The Wednesday incident that sparked the calls for a mistrial took place as prosecutors were questioning a witness named Wunnie Lee (aka Slimelife Shawty), a former defendant in the YSL case who signed a plea agreement in exchange for testifying.

While on the stand, prosecutors asked Lee to identify certain defendants by showing him social media posts. While reading one of the posts, Lee read aloud the hashtag #freequa — a reference to a previous prison sentence for Marquavius Huey (aka Qua), one of Thug’s current co-defendants.

That was a crucial error by prosecutors. The jury was not supposed to know which defendants had previously been incarcerated, and defense attorneys argued that the government was supposed to redact the post and prep Lee not to mention it. After the admission before jurors, defense attorneys quickly moved for a mistrial.

“We’re not going to be able to unring this bell,” defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland said in court. “It is painfully obvious that the state is not prepping their witnesses.”

The misstep quickly drew another sharp critique from Judge Whitaker, who attempted to reach a solution that would allow the case to move forward: “What I’m trying to do is fix your sloppiness so that everybody won’t have wasted 10 to 12 months of their lives in this trial.”

UnitedMasters has reached a new multi-year licensing agreement with TikTok. News of the deal comes just weeks after Billboard broke the news that TikTok “walked away” from talks to renew its license with Merlin, a collective that negotiates digital licensing deals for more than 30,000 indie labels and distributors.

Instead, TikTok noted that it wished to forge deals with most of the labels and distributors individually and cited previous issues with Merlin’s members delivering “fraudulent content” as the reason why they were not renewing with Merlin. Merlin read this move as TikTok “fragmenting” its membership to try to “minimize” licensing payments for indie music.

UnitedMasters — which has worked with more than 2 million independent artists, including FloyyMenor, Brent Faiyaz, BigXthaPlug, Tobe Nwigwe and Anycia — will include its full, expansive catalog in the new deal. The agreement will also provide additional commercial opportunities for UnitedMasters artists via TikTok’s Commercial Music Library.

A press release states that TikTok and UnitedMasters “share the vision and understanding that commercial use of music on platforms offers significant revenue and promotional opportunities for artists” — and that having access to TikTok’s Commercial Music Library will give UnitedMasters talent access to new revenue and promotional streams for their talent.

Beyond just TikTok, licensing music for commercial purposes is a crucial focus for UnitedMasters. Previously, it has landed its artists deals with major brands like Bose, Walmart, ESPN, Coca-Cola, IKEA, Dove and more.

“Our partnership with TikTok provides UnitedMasters artists unparalleled access to a vast global audience, while TikTok creators and users gain early exposure to some of the most impactful independent music today,” said Steve Stoute, founder/CEO of UnitedMasters, in a statement. “TikTok recognizes the power of music and creativity, which is why we are excited to formalize this partnership.”

“TikTok has proven that it’s a launchpad for artists, turning viral moments into chart-topping hits,” Stoute added. “With this partnership, I look forward to seeing our artists thrive on TikTok and extend their reach and influence across the music industry. We’re building a future where they can own their success and grow their careers on their own terms.”

“We want to make the world’s best music available to our global community of over a billion music fans,” added Ole Obermann, head of music business development at TikTok. “That’s why we are so excited to be entering into a direct deal with a prominent independent label like UnitedMasters, with its deep, diverse roster of independent artists. Together, we’re ready to amplify these voices and bring their music to a global stage, unlocking new opportunities for discovery.”

Merlin’s license with TikTok is set to expire on Oct. 31. Labels or distributors that have not reached an individual agreement with TikTok by then will become unlicensed and removed from the platform.

James Taylor is supporting the Democratic ticket, as the presidential election quickly approaches.

The “You’ve Got a Friend” singer will join Kamala Harris’ vice presidential choice, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, during his rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Thursday (Oct. 24). At the event, Walz will speak to state residents about their power to vote, encouraging them to hit the polls early.

Taylor will perform alongside his wife, Kim, and his son, Henry, though it is not yet revealed which track they will perform.

The multi-Grammy winner was previously scheduled to perform at the Democratic National Convention back in August, but was unfortunately cut for time from the program. “It was exciting to see and hear so many of the speakers at the opening night of the Democratic convention here in Chicago,” he shared after the event. “But it became clear, as the evening unfolded, that there wouldn’t be time for our ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ with cello and voices.”

He continued, “Sorry to disappoint, but a great and inspirational, quintessentially American moment. We were honored to be there…”

Earlier this week, it was announced that Bruce Springsteen will be performing at a series of When We Vote We Win shows this month in support of the Harris/Walz ticket. The two events will take place alongside Harris and former President Barack Obama on Oct. 24 and 28 in Atlanta and Philadelphia, respectively. Additional When We Vote We Win rallies will be announced in the coming days, according to Rolling Stone.

Libianca has been on the move. One day the Cameroonian American singer-songwriter is flying out to Paris, the next she’s in New York City. One month before attending New York Fashion Week in September this year, the Afro-soul singer-songwriter performed at Montreal’s Osheaga Music & Arts Festival, which was on her bucket list of music festivals to perform at. She joined the likes of SZA, Tyla, Raye and Chappell Roan on the lineup of one of Canada’s biggest music festivals, where 147,000 festivalgoers flocked to Parc Jean-Drapeau over three days.

While traveling around the world, Libianca (real name Libianca Kenzonkinboum Fonji) has been mapping out time to lock in at the studio and finish the follow-up project to her debut EP, Walk Away, that she released in December 2023 via 5K Records Limited and Sony Music Entertainment UK. “‘Libianca is in her ‘I don’t give a f–k’ era,’” the 24-year-old artist tells Billboard over Zoom. “That is the best way to put it – because these past few months, I’ve gotten out of my head completely. I stopped running on the wheel and [quit] desperately trying to find more admiration and quickly follow my most recent accolades with more accolades and more glory. Just giving all that up and just going back to where it all started. Just doing this s— ‘cause I love it.”

But from the outside looking in, you wouldn’t see any trace of the nightmare the “People” hitmaker faced just five months before. In April, Libianca announced she was postponing the North American leg of her Walk Away EP World Tour three days before it was set to start in her hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her manager M3tro raised the Cameroonian flag on stage at the Souled Out Festival in Sydney, Gold Coast and Melbourne in March, while the Australian flag was also waved during her performances. Uniting the flags was a moment to not only show respect to the Australian festival attendees, but to clarify Libianca’s nationality as “there was a time when people mistakenly believed she was Nigerian,” M3tro explains. But Libianca’s gesture of showing pride for her Cameroonian heritage, which she has previously displayed by posting emojis of her country’s flag numerous times on social media, sparked disapproval from armed separatists in Cameroon known as The Amba Boys, who sent Libianca death threats. 

The separatists misinterpreted Libianca — who moved to Bamenda, the largest English-speaking city in Cameroon, when she was four — waving the Cameroonian flag as showing support for the country’s long-serving president Paul Biya and his Francophone-dominated government. In 2016, Anglophones protested against the government for the French language being imposed in the courts and schools, fighting to preserve their cultural heritage and end decades-long marginalization. The resulting 6,000 casualties, according to the Human Rights Watch’s World Report last year, and more than 1,000 arrests between 2016 and 2021, according to Amnesty International, have heightened Anglophone secessionists’ desire to have their own independent state, named Ambazonia, in the ongoing Anglophone crisis.

“My holding of the Cameroonian flag was not to state in any way what side I’m on but a symbol of faith that someday, we THE PEOPLE will reunite and lead with love because we are better together when we help each other instead of hating each other,” Libianca wrote in a handwritten letter posted on her socials on April 12. “The flag is not Paul Biya. IT’S US, THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON, our vibrance and our culture together.”

Libianca told BBC in May that the death threats – which started coming in on March 23, the morning after her first Australia show in Sydney – included vile messages saying that she should “never step foot in Cameroon – or they would kill me on-site.” M3tro confirms to Billboard the numerous “alarming” threats went to the team’s business email, as well as his personal email. 

“At first when [the emails] came, it was just one, two – like, ‘OK, this is something where here and there you get a fan that would just be talking reckless, but it’s nothing,’” he recalls. But along with the death threats, he said separatists were sending money requests to management’s email, and there was a flood of nefarious comments on Libianca’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. “At this point, this is not a joke no more,” says M3tro. “So I really had to call the team. We had to talk and know how we’re gonna deliver it to her, so she can understand and be able to finish with the job she’s doing in Australia – rather than just cancel that [part of the tour] as well.”

Libianca says she took a day off of work after learning about the severity of the threats — which went on until her show in Perth on March 31 — “to sort through my emotions.” She and her team, including her North American reps at APA, proceeded to postpone the 14-date North American tour – not only for her safety, but also to protect her U.S.-based family members from Cameroonian separatists living here.

“For me, it wasn’t an easy thing,” M3tro adds. “As a manager, I see everything. [She’s] worked hard [rehearsing] and you’re trying to do [the tour], but now you have to put that on hold. And as a friend, I also see her heart, sweat and tears. It’s not an easy thing what she does, because the type of music she does, she has to express on a deep level. And it was like, ‘I’m supporting my country. I wanna bring my country to a brighter side and I’m facing backlash for certain things.’ And as a friend, to me, I could see the pain in her and that’s what hurt me.”

In Libianca’s aforementioned letter, she expressed how the threats “overshadowed” living out her dreams and making her country proud. After competing on NBC’s The Voice in 2021 – where she finished in the top 20 before being eliminated – Libianca’s dreams of having a music career turned into reality when she released her global breakout hit “People” the following year. The Afro-soul track – which spurred multiple remixes with Nigerian sensations Ayra Starr and Omah Lay, Mexican American pop star Becky G and Irish singer-songwriter Cian Ducrot – earned Libianca her career-first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 80, and it reached No. 2 on the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart. In 2023, she won the viewer’s choice: best new international act award at the BET Awards and opened for Alicia Keys’ Keys to the Summer Tour. Libianca was on cloud nine. But during this recent dark period, Libianca says that God and her support system – including her family, close friends and team – kept her afloat. 

“After that, I just saw [the situation] in a very positive light. I had a chance to speak up, not just for myself, but for others. That’s how I handled the situation really,” she explains. On April 24, she released the single “Gods People,” an anthem that calls for casualties to cease in Cameroon and for harmony to be restored. On X, Libianca wrote that profits made from the song’s streams went toward supporting victims of the Anglophone crisis, which literally hits close to home for her. What was once her “very vibrant” home of Bamenda, she describes, became deserted due to locals, including her family, having to seek refuge in the French-speaking regions of Cameroon. In 2023, the Norwegian Refugee Council reported that Cameroon has the second-most-neglected displacement crisis in the world.

After the Cameroonian flag controversy, Libianca and her team made the call to follow through with her European tour in May and June. “[Her] family’s not [in Europe]. And we didn’t really feel like safety is something that has to be taken care of there. The rules are much different there than the U.S.,” says M3tro, adding that the majority of European countries have stricter guidelines on bearing arms. 

Libianca’s team still added extra security measures at her shows, such as security guards patting down attendees. For her set at Osheaga Festival, which came two months after her European tour, M3tro said the team took even more precautions, like not booking any of their lodging arrangements under her name, and having a security guard with her whether she’s in transit or walking on public grounds. 

With these safety measures, Libianca made it clear she’s not letting anyone or anything cause her to live in fear. Performing her healing music to the masses is part of her mission, and she plans on continuing to do so when she returns to U.S. stages after her upcoming EP drops. “When I get to go out on tour again, and I get to do it fully, it’s gonna be so good – because there’s gonna be a whole new project out, on top of other things that have already been out,” Libianca explains. “There’s going to be so much more diversity to my set of the things I can talk about with my fans. And the experience is going to be much greater than it was before.”

Following Walk Away, Libianca has released a handful of collaborations, including “Darling” with British singer Lewis Fitzgerald and “Side” with Ghanaian musician KJ Spio and Tanzanian artist Harmonize. She says her upcoming EP, which she reveals is “almost done” and slated to be released early next year, is influenced by her diverse music taste from her upbringing, from being in choirs at church and boarding school to listening to ABBA. She also teases that there are songs on the project that will “surprise people.” 

“The project itself has all the things that I’ve experienced since ‘People’ happened,” Libianca says. “I don’t think I’ve been open with my fans since then about how I’m genuinely doing, the things I’m going through. So I’m doing it through this project.”