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

To win an argument in such a condensed amount of time, debaters attempt to short-circuit their opponent’s claim as swiftly and harshly as possible, treating their few minutes of airtime as a domination game rather than, say, a path toward truth or understanding. —Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2025

Millions of dollars are being pumped into reality TV, while actual real-life stories don’t get airtime. —Sonya Rehman, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025

After buying airtime for decades, Swaggart’s ministry increasingly opted to buy its own radio stations and provide round-the-clock Christian programming. —Frank E. Lockwood, Arkansas Online, 1 July 2025

Some viewers offered up congratulations to the newlyweds in comments on social media, while others viewed the nuptials as a stunt meant to garner the pair more airtime. —Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 18 June 2025

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