Nashville’s Big Bash 2026 Live for Free

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Music City is pulling out all the stops for what’s become one of the country’s most-loved New Year’s Eve traditions. This year’s New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash brings together the biggest names in country music for a five-hour celebration that spans multiple Nashville venues and features not one, but two midnight countdowns. The best part? You don’t need cable to watch—there are several ways to stream New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash for free tonight.

How to Watch New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash at a Glance

Returning for the 17th year, New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash showcases Music City at its finest. Co-hosted by comedian Bert Kreischer and country star HARDY, the celebration kicks off at Nashville’s Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, where headliners Jason Aldean, Lainey Wilson, and Bailey Zimmerman will take the stage. Meanwhile, additional performances will light up venues across Nashville, including Luke Combs’ Category 10, where Grammy-winning legend Dwight Yoakam will perform alongside Marcus King.

“You hear people say I’m honored and privileged to be working with a certain group of people, but in this case, I am blown away that I’m allowed to work with these people. This lineup is insane,” Kreischer shared in a statement about co-hosting the special. “This event, which I was a very small part of last year, is so much fun. To be working with my buddy HARDY… it feels like I should be paying CBS to do this.”

The night culminates with the iconic Music Note Drop—a 138-foot tower featuring a giant red note made up of 13,000 LED pixels—followed by a 90-second fireworks display. Special guest CeCe Winans and the Grammy-winning Fisk Jubilee Singers will bring their powerhouse vocals to the celebration, making this a New Year’s Eve you won’t want to miss.

Ready to tune in? Below, you’ll find everything you need to know about streaming tonight’s broadcast, including free trial options and affordable packages that carry CBS.

How to Watch New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash on CBS

New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash airs on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, with a brief break from 10 p.m. through 10:30 p.m. ET before continuing until 1:30 a.m. ET. If you’ve cut the cable cords, you can still catch every performance through streaming services that offer CBS and provide free trials.

DirecTV Stream delivers CBS across all its packages with a five-day free trial, making it perfect for tonight’s celebration. Plans start at $89.99 per month after the trial period ends. Fubo offers a seven-day free trial with CBS included in its Pro package for $79.99 monthly. Hulu + Live TV also provides access to CBS at $89.99 per month and includes Disney+, Hulu’s on-demand library, and ESPN Plus in one convenient bundle. For viewers who want access to CBS’s entire library alongside live programming, Paramount+ Premium offers the livestream plus thousands of on-demand shows and movies starting at $12.99 per month after the trial period. Check out the full details on your streaming options for New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash below.

Best Overall & EDITOR’S PICK

Watch New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash with DirecTV Stream

– Free trial: 5 days
– Includes local networks and 90+ channels

DirecTV Stream offers a five-day free trial and four plans—Entertainment, Choice, Ultimate, and Premier—all of which include CBS. Entertainment comes with over 90 channels and costs $89.99 per month (currently $49.99 for your first month); Choice, which comes with over 125 channels and costs $94.99 per month (currently $59.99 for your first month); Ultimate, which comes with over 160 channels and costs $124.99 per month (currently $89.99 for your first month); and Premier, which comes with over 185 channels and costs $169.99 per month (currently $124.99 per month).

We tested every streaming service offering a free trial in 2025, and DirecTV came out on top as our editor’s pick. With its free trial and massive selection of channels and local networks, it’s a great choice for watching New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash on CBS.

Best Flexible Pick

Watch New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash with Fubo

– Free trial: Up to 5 days
– Includes local networks and 200+ channels

Fubo is a more flexible option for watching New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash, with CBS included in its Sports, Pro, and Elite plans. The service provides four tiers: Sports + News with 29 channels at $55 per month (currently $45.99 for the first month), Pro with 214 channels at $77.99 per month (currently $48.99 for the first month), Elite with 278 channels at $93.99 per month (currently $53.99 for the first month), and Latino with 55 channels at $14.99 per month (currently $9.99 for the first month). New subscribers can take advantage of Fubo’s one-day free trial to watch the broadcast (five days for the Latino plan). With these first-month discounts offering up to $40 in savings, Fubo also delivers plenty of live TV options beyond the New Year’s Eve show.

Best BUDGET Pick

Watch New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash with Paramount+ Premium

– Free trial: 7 days
– Live CBS stream plus SHOWTIME library and 40,000+ episodes

Paramount Plus Premium (formerly Paramount Plus with Showtime) offers direct access to stream CBS to watch New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash. Priced at $12.99 per month, this plan includes your local CBS station’s livestream, plus the entire SHOWTIME library with acclaimed series and specials. You’ll enjoy most content ad-free (live TV still has ads), can download shows and movies for offline viewing, and stream in 4K UHD with Dolby Vision on select titles. New subscribers can try the service with a one-week free trial, making it easy to catch tonight’s celebration while exploring over 40,000 episodes and movies from CBS, Paramount, and SHOWTIME.

Best Bundle Pick

Watch New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash with Hulu + Live TV

– Free trial: 3 days
– Large library of shows, movies, and Hulu Originals

Hulu + Live TV offers four plans. The cheapest plan, Live TV Only, costs $81.99 per month and comes with access to Hulu’s live TV content. The next cheapest plan costs $1 more at $82.99 per month and comes with Hulu’s live TV content, as well as access to Hulu’s streaming library with ads, Disney+ with ads, and ESPN+ with ads. For Disney+ with no ads, users can subscribe for $87.99 per month. And for Hulu and Disney+ with no ads, the price is $95.99 per month. Viewers can stream CBS to watch New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash on all Hulu + Live TV plans.

Where is New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash 2026 filmed?

The 2026 special features performances from multiple locations across Nashville, Tennessee. The main celebration takes place at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, where headliners perform, and the iconic Music Note Drop happens at midnight Central Time. Additional performances occur at venues throughout Music City, including Luke Combs’ Category 10 and other Nashville clubs. The broadcast also includes a countdown to midnight Eastern Time with Haley Baylee reporting live from Times Square in New York City, connecting both time zones for a truly nationwide celebration.

Who are the New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash 2026 performers?

Read on for a full list of acts performing in New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash.

• Bailey Zimmerman
• Brooks & Dunn
• CeCe Winans
• Dierks Bentley
• Dwight Yoakam
• Fisk Jubilee Singers
• Gretchen Wilson
• Jason Aldean
• Keith Urban
• Lainey Wilson
• Marcus King
• Megan Moroney
• Rascal Flatts
• Riley Green
• Stephen Wilson Jr.
• Zach Top