How to watch the Tournament of Roses Parade

The Rose Parade is a celebration of marching bands and floats made entirely of flowers. It's pretty cool. You should watch it.

My favorite New Year's Day pastime (while recovering from New Year's Eve) is to watch the Tournament of Roses parade. It's the best parade that's ever been and has been a standing tradition for 129 years. This year, the parade will feature 44 flower and plant-covered floats, 21 marching bands, and a whole lot of celebrating. The most unique aspect of the Tournament of Roses parade is that every float has to be covered in only natural materials like flowers, plants, bark, seeds, and such.

Get the Tournament of Roses Parade app to find out more about it

It happens at 8:00 AM PT on January 1 (unless it's a Sunday, in which case the parade is moved to January 2). It runs across the U.S on a number of broadcast channels, like ABC, KTLA, and NBC. It's also available in Armenia, the Caribbean, Latin America, plus about 100 more territories and countries.

You can watch it live at 8:00 AM PT (and rebroadcasted all day on KTLA) on the above-mentioned network channels, plus a handful of cable stations.

How to watch the Tournament of Roses parade if you have a cable subscription

If you're a cable subscriber, watching the Tournament of Roses parade is easy. If you haven't already taken advantage of universal sign-on on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, you can simply sign in to one of the supported apps that is broadcasting the parade.

You'll be asked to authenticate your subscription by entering a code that you access via a web browser, so make sure you've got a device that you can access the internet from, like your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.

The following channels will broadcast the Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1.

  • ABC - The ABC app is available for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. The Rose parade coverage will begin at 8:30 AM PT on Jan. 1.
  • NBC - The NBC app is available for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. The Rose parade coverage will begin at 8:30 AM PT on Jan. 1. NOTE: the NBC app only supports live streaming in some areas. Check the app in your town to find out if you can stream the Rose Parade live.
  • KTLA5 - KTLA only has a news coverage app for iPhone and iPad, but you can watch the Rose Parade by downloading the NG Media Player from KTLA.com without a cable subscription. Coverage starts at 6:00 AM PT on Jan 1.
  • ESPN - You can watch the Rose Parade with the WatchESPN app on iPhone and iPad or the ESPN Live app on Apple TV. The Rose Parade will air on ESPN at 8:00 AM PT on Jan 1.
  • Hallmark Channel - The Hallmark Everywhere app doesn't support live TV, so if you want to watch the Rose Parade on the Hallmark Channel, you'll have to watch it through your regular cable channel.
  • HGTV - The HGTV app is available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. The Rose parade will begin at 8:00 AM PT on Jan. 1.
  • Univision - The Univision NOW app is available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. The Rose Parade will begin at 8:00 AM PT on Jan 1.

How to watch the Tournament of Roses parade if you don't have a cable subscription

Unlike the college bowls that air on New Year's Day, the Tournament of Roses parade is for everyone. Access to the live broadcast isn't quite as easy as it is for subscribers, but you can still watch the parade without cable.

Directly from KTLA's website

The Tournament of Roses Parade is one of the most popular parades of the year, and that's why KTLA will live stream a broadcast of the parade directly on their home page starting Monday morning. Just click on the link below from your favorite browser

Use the Channels app and HomeRunHD

If you've already got your media center set up to watch over-the-air broadcast TV on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, you're all set! Just tune in to ABC, NBC, or KTLA and you'll be oohing and ahhing at the beautiful floats at 8:00 AM PT.

How to watch live broadcast TV on your Apple TV without a cable subscription

YouTube

Though there isn't an official YouTube channel that you can watch the full Rose parade from beginning to end, it's highly likely that you'll be able to watch portions of it on YouTube. Sometimes, you can even watch the parade in its entirety if someone has a good spot and a good camera setup. Cal Poly has a fantastic channel that shows how to build a Rose parade float. Last year, they filmed the entire parade from the grandstand and it's pretty decent.

Amazon Prime Video

This year, for the first time, Amazon is covering the Rose Parade. You can join hosts Cord and Tish (AKA Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon) as they tell us all the important facts and history of the Tournament of Roses as we watch the floats go by. You do need an Amazon Prime subscription, but you don't need a cable subscription. Download the Amazon Prime Video app for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, and then add the 2018 Rose Parade Hosted By Cord & Tish to your watch list.

Univision Now free 7-day trial

If you prefer to watch the Rose Parade en Español, you can do so through the Univision app for free. The only catch is that you can't have already signed up for Univision NOW in the past. For $4.99 per month, you can watch Univision and UniMás content, plus live stream the channels right on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. If you sign up for the first time right now, you can access the content for free for seven days. Just remember to unsubscribe before you seven days are up!

How do you march?

How are you watching the 129th Tournament of Roses Parade? Let us know in the comments!

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