come/go on the air

phrase

of a radio or television station, program, etc.

: to start broadcasting or being broadcast

The station went on the air 25 years ago.

a show that first came/went on the air five years ago

The President went on the air to defend his policies.

Examples of come/go on the air in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The new mayor so far has declined CBS’ overtures to go on the air; a spokesperson for the mayor’s office declined to offer a response to Weiss. — Max Tani, semafor.com, 2 Mar. 2026

The musical unfurls in the minutes before Cole (Dulé Hill) is supposed to go on the air. — Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 21 May 2025

Kotcheff managed to get through a live 1958 teleplay about a nuclear bomb going off in the underground even though lead actor Gareth Jones had died while getting his makeup applied mere minutes before the show was to go on the air. — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 11 Apr. 2025

An unidentified Russia Today anchor prepares to go on the air in the RT TV studio in Moscow, June 8, 2018. — Dan Mangan, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2024

In this week’s episode, Jerry was joined by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who was kind enough to come on the air and talk about AT&T Stadium as a venue for World Cup 2026. — Kristi Scales, Dallas News, 18 Sep. 2023

Both Barnard and Minkoff will go on the air on Friday to introduce the line. — Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019