airtime

noun

air·​time ˈer-ˌtīm 

1

: the time or any part of the time when a radio or television station is on the air

2

: the time at which a radio or television broadcast is scheduled to begin

Examples of airtime in a Sentence

The committee plans to buy radio airtime for the campaign ads.

Recent Examples on the Web

The stakes are high for advertisers, with 30 seconds of airtime fetching as much as $10 million in Sunday's game. —Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 9 Feb. 2026

Brands paid NBCUniversal as much as $10 million for just 30 seconds of airtime — the most expensive advertising real estate in the world. —Christopher Vollmer, Fortune, 9 Feb. 2026

Two years ago, in Paris, organizers turned the seventh arrondissement into a light show and devoted considerable airtime to the Minions. —Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 7 Feb. 2026

As a result, Super Bowl airtime has become one of the most valuable buys in advertising, especially for brands chasing massive live audiences. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 6 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for airtime

• bedtime
• daytime
• downtime
• enzyme
• halftime
• lifetime
• longtime
• lunchtime
• mealtime
• meantime
• nighttime
• noontime