All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Bring in the new year with a hard-hitting 2026 Rose Bowl matchup between the No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers. This NCAA college football playoff game is one of the biggest of the season. The undefeated Hoosiers are chasing their first national championship but have to take out the heavyweight Crimson Tide, who are after their 19th championship.

How to Watch Alabama vs. Indiana Rose Bowl, At a Glance:

Looking for a great way to watch the Rose Bowl online? We’ve created a full guide on where to stream the Alabama vs. Indiana game online without cable and for free. Keep reading on to learn more.

How to Watch the 2026 Rose Bowl Game Online Without Cable

ESPN Unlimited is the official streaming platform for ESPN, and a subscription includes instant access to games and more exclusive content for $29.99 per month. You can save almost 17% off by purchasing an annual subscription for $299.99 per year. There is no free ESPN Unlimited trial, but it does include exclusive on-demand videos and access to content from what was formerly known as ESPN Insider.

ESPN Unlimited

Get ESPN Unlimited

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In addition to live sports, ESPN Unlimited has original shows to stream on-demand, plus game recaps and analysis, a shorter version of NFL Primetime and full replays of historic NFL matchups.

To expand your savings and content offerings, currently, you can bundle ESPN Unlimited with Hulu and Disney+ for a single monthly price of just $29.99 per month for all three services for 12 months of streaming.

How to Watch ESPN Online Free

While ESPN Unlimited doesn’t currently offer a free trial, there are other streamers that offer ESPN online free. If you want access to ESPN and additional channels, you can take advantage of DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and Fubo, which are all offering free trials or promos right now. Some of them can give you free access to ESPN for up to a week.

Here are all the ways to watch ESPN online, including ways to stream ESPN online for free.

DirecTV

Get Five-Day Free Trial

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DirecTV is offering a five-day free trial, which will let you watch ESPN and more for free. The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network is included in all of the streaming packages. In addition to unlimited DVR storage, you’ll get access to local channels and the ability to stream on as many devices as you want.

Sling TV

Get Sling TV

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With prices starting at just $4.99 for a day pass, Sling TV includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN 3 (for ABC simucast) with it Sling Orange and Sling Orange + Blue packages — which features dozens of channels that can be streamed on up to three devices at the same time. Sling Orange + Blue features FS1 and the NFL Network too

Please note: Sling TV’s pricing and channel availability depends on your local TV market.

FuboTV

Get Five-Day Free Trial

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Fubo is another great option you can take advantage of to watch ESPN online. The streamer offers a seven-day free trial that’ll give you access to ESPN free and more than 240 live TV channels. The service offers a promo that’ll get you up to $30 off the first month, which can get you access to ESPN and more for as low as $54.99 (reg. $84.99 per month).

Hulu + Live TV

Get three-day free trial

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For the most content options, Hulu + Live TV gives you access to the entire Hulu library in addition to more than 95 live TV channels — including ESPN for just $82.99 per month.

And, unlike the rest of the options, you can also expand your content library by bundling Hulu + Live TV with Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited. You’ll not only have all of the Hulu library to watch, but also exclusive and original programming available exclusively on ESPN Unlimited.

P!nk rang in the new year from a hospital bed.

On Wednesday (Dec. 31) night, the 46-year-old pop star shared a selfie on social media showing herself in a hospital gown with a bandage on her neck while resting in a hospital bed.

Despite the unexpected setting, the “Get the Party Started” singer appeared in good spirits, smiling brightly as she reflected emotionally on 2025 and explained the reason for her hospital stay.

P!nk joked on Instagram that she wasn’t there for facial plastic surgery, but instead had received “two new shiny discs in my neck,” adding that “rock ‘n’ roll is a contact sport.” She also noted that while she recovered alone in the hospital, her family was still able to enjoy the holiday by snowboarding.

“This year was a doozy for all of us and it ran the spectrum from absolutely devastating to mildly annoying,” P!nk wrote in a lengthy caption. “In amongst all of that, there was so much beauty. And I got to wake up every day and get out of bed and go about my business. The business of loving my children and helping them to follow their dreams.”

The singer, who shares two children with former motocross racer Carey Hart, 50, went on to reflect on being forced to say goodbye to “incredibly important people” in 2025, while also experiencing both realized dreams and difficult moments. She also vowed to “work this year to help preserve the choices of others to make for themselves and their families and this very pursuit of happiness.”

Friends and loved ones flooded the comments section with messages of support and well wishes. “Thank you for this. happy healing & happy new year,” Juliette Lewis wrote, while Kristin Chenoweth added, “Amen sister amen!”

This isn’t the only health issue P!nk faced in 2025. While on summer vacation, she revealed she had been battling a serious illness. “When you go on vacation and have food and E coli decides to move into your gut you kill it with friends and daughters and red wine. and a vitamin IV concoction,” she wrote on Instagram in late August.

P!nk has been enjoying a well-earned break following her 2023–2024 Summer Carnival World Tour, which grossed nearly $700 million and sold more than 4.8 million tickets across 128 shows.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

It’s that magical time once again where drag performers all across America come to face off, going head-to-head in challenges galore to become America’s Next Drag Superstar.

That’s right. Season 18 of RuPaul’s Drag Race is set to air Jan. 2, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV, a great way to start the New Year off right, in our humble opinion. New episodes will air every Friday and last around 90 minutes. Fourteen queens, including the likes of Ciara Myst, Athena Dion, Briar Blush, DD Fuego, Discord Addams, Jane Don’t, Juicy Love Dion, Kenya Pleaser and more will enter the werk room, each bringing unique looks and talents to the mainstage to win over judges RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, Ross Mathews, Ts Madison and Law Roach.

Speaking of judges, there are a slew of guests that will sit on the panel this season, a ton of whom are musicians. These star-studded musical guests include Cardi B, Teyana Taylor, Benny Blanco, Dove Cameron and Zara Larsson, among others. With so much talent all in one room, it’s hard not to create magic on your screen.

If you’re not familiar with RuPaul’s Drag Race, the competition show has been running since 2009 and has amassed a cult following of fans over the years. The show features various hurdles competing queens have to “jump” over — namely, the Snatch Game — or design challenges that push contestants to be creative and pursue new avenues.

A fan-favorite segment, which takes place at the very end of each episode, sees two queens who didn’t do so hot in the episode’s challenge, although not always, go head-to-head in a lip sync battle for their lives. This showdown has spawned some utterly iconic moments over the years, utilizing Billboard chart-topping tracks from a diverse range of musicians, from Madonna to Taylor Swift. If all this has left you intrigued, we’ll be showing you how you can tune into the show each week for free. Keep reading to find out more.

How to Watch RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 Free

As previously mentioned, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 18 will air on Jan. 2, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.

If you’re looking to tune into the drag competition show, consider DIRECTV. The service’s ENTERTAINMENT package features MTV. This package is currently on sale for $49.99 a month, down from $89.99 a month. This package is for those looking to tap into a slew of entertainment-based channels. If you’re unsure about committing to a new subscription, you can simply try the service out for free for five days.

With a subscription, users will gain access to live TV, local networks such as CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS, and you can also watch various 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 with the touch of a button.

Another way to watch the competition show via MTV is on Fubo, which has a five-day free trial available here. Fubo’s package includes a free DVR so you can record the show to watch all the greatest moments back on-demand. Continue with one of Fubo’s streaming deals or cancel before your free trial is up to avoid being charged. See details here.

Another option for our readers is a Hulu + Live TV subscription, given that MTV is included in the live TV channel lineup. The service’s live package includes major networks along with MTV, like ABC, NBC and Fox for all your live TV viewing needs. 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 pricey plans on our list. However, the bundle is well worth the price, thanks to the added Hulu titles, which include music-themed shows and movies like American Idol, The Voice, The Masked Singer, The Beatles: 8 Days a Week, Amy Winehouse: A Final Goodbye, Billie, Madonna and the Breakfast Club, Bad Rap, 69: The Saga of Danny Hernandez and more.

Philo Core subscribers will also have access to MTV to watch the show as it airs along with Discovery+ apps and AMC+’s entire library. Users will also have access to the HBO Max Basic with Ads plan. Unlike our other options, Philo does not offer a free trial; however, their Philo Core subscription deal is one you won’t want to pass up on. The streaming service is offering users 24% off their first month — that’s just $25, down from $33.

You’ll ultimately have access to a ton of streaming platforms’ libraries all under one roof. This includes a slew of music-themed titles like Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, Amy, Born to Be Blue, Live Aid: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took on the World and Stardust.

The New Year will definitely bring new BTS music.

“March 20th comeback confirmed,” reads a message posted Jan. 1, 2026 by BigHit on its Korean-language X account, and translated into English.

That reunion will end a nearly four-year hiatus, and return to the music world one of the biggest K-pop acts of them all.

BTS fans have been counting down the days until RM, Jin, Suga, J -Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook would complete mandatory army service, assemble and release fresh studio cuts.

Members of the record-busting K-pop juggernaut have hinted at new music for several months. In a Weverse update published in November, RM teased a comeback, noting, “the music is coming out really well!!” He added, “everyone’s trying. Please look forward to it.”

Jung Kook added more fuel to ARMY’s excitement when he told Elle Korea, “I think this spring will be more important than ever. So I sincerely hope you all have a safe and enjoyable spring.”

Jung Kook, RM, Suga, V and Jimin were discharged from the South Korean military in June 2025, shortly after which they reunited on camera with j-hope and Jin to announce that a new BTS album and tour were in the works.

The artists also confirmed that they would hit the studio immediately to prep for their 2026 comeback.

They said in a group statement at the time, “We’ll be releasing a new BTS album in the spring of next year … We’re also planning a world tour alongside the new album. We’ll be visiting fans all around the world, so we hope you’re as excited as we are.”

While they were apart, the lads focused on individual musical projects.

The Bangtan Boys surfed the highest waves of K-pop, and boast six No. 1s on the Billboard 200 chart, including the 2022 anthology Proof and their most recent proper studio album, 2020’s Be. The pop superstars also own six No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100.

BTS was awarded the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year twice, in 2020 and 2021, becoming the first act to win consecutively.

Melanie C spiced up everyone’s life as the British pop singer helped ring in 2026 Down Under with a Spice Girls medley.

Australia is, of course, one of the first countries to welcome the New Year and Sydney typically plays the role as global party starter with an all-star concert, the countdown and a striking fireworks display.

For such a grand occasion, Melanie C (aka Sporty Spice) had a solid gameplan. “I thought it would be very rude of me to come all this way and not sing a Spice Girl song,” she told the crowd gathered for the ABC New Year’s Eve 2025 Concert at the Sydney Opera House.

She didn’t disappoint, hitting a nine minute showcase of “2 Become 1,” “You’ll Be There,” “Spice Up Your Life,” and “Who Do You Think You Are?,” with a full backing band. Watch below.

The Spice Girls — Posh, Scary, Sporty, Baby and Ginger — formed in 1994, and had a global phenomenon two years later with their debut single, 1996’s “Wannabe.” The catchy track notched four weeks at the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1997, and is one of the group’s nine U.K. No. 1 singles. Their debut album Spice reigned over the Billboard 200 (for five weeks) and Official U.K. Albums Chart (15 weeks), and the followup Spiceworld led by U.K. list for three weeks in 1997.

The group went on hiatus in 2000, returning in 2007 for a global tour and again in 2018-2019, though without Victoria Beckham (aka Posh).

The fivesome reunited briefly in April 2024 at Beckham’s 50th birthday party at the swanky London private club Oswald’s, where they sang an impromptu mini-set of “Stop” and “Mama”. Prior to that, the last time all five members performed together was at the London 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

Melanie C has actually settled into life in the great southern land. She served as a coach on The Voice Australia in 2025 and she is regularly spotted out and about with her boyfriend Chris Dingwall, a Sydney model.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, more than 4.6 million Aussies tuned into the special, which also featured performances by Matt Corby, The Cat Empire, Peach PRC, Marcia Hines, Casey Donovan, Don West, Jem Cassar-Daley, Ayesha Madon and others.