pay TV
noun
: a service providing noncommercial television programming (such as recent movies and entertainment specials) by means of a scrambled signal to subscribers who are provided with a decoder
—often hyphenated when used attributively
a pay-TV operator
called also pay television
compare pay cable, subscription tvExamples of pay TV in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Ted Turner, the media visionary who forever altered the news business by founding CNN and helped introduce Americans to pay TV by creating cable channels like TNT, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network, has died.
—
Paul Bond, HollywoodReporter, 6 May 2026
South Africa’s Competition Commission on Monday accused MultiChoice and Altech, its set-top box supplier, of reaching an arrangement under which the latter would stay out of the pay TV market.
—Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 6 May 2026
The social impact is good news for Sky, which does not put all sketches from the show online – as a pay TV operator, a key consideration is getting people to sign up to its service, so some of the SNL content remains for Sky and Now TV subs only.
—Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 2 May 2026
In the second management shakeup in just over a year at Movistar Plus+ the biggest Spanish pay TV and SVOD operator, Daniel Domenjó is set to exit as CEO.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 24 Apr. 2026
RSNs have felt arguably the greatest pressure from the losses that plague the pay TV bundle as consumers switch to streaming.
—Lillian Rizzo, CNBC, 2 Apr. 2026
Some pay TV providers, like Fubo and a few others, include ESPN Unlimited with their subscription.
—Takashi Williams, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
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Paul Bond, HollywoodReporter, 6 May 2026
South Africa’s Competition Commission on Monday accused MultiChoice and Altech, its set-top box supplier, of reaching an arrangement under which the latter would stay out of the pay TV market.
—Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 6 May 2026
The social impact is good news for Sky, which does not put all sketches from the show online – as a pay TV operator, a key consideration is getting people to sign up to its service, so some of the SNL content remains for Sky and Now TV subs only.
—Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 2 May 2026
In the second management shakeup in just over a year at Movistar Plus+ the biggest Spanish pay TV and SVOD operator, Daniel Domenjó is set to exit as CEO.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 24 Apr. 2026
RSNs have felt arguably the greatest pressure from the losses that plague the pay TV bundle as consumers switch to streaming.
—Lillian Rizzo, CNBC, 2 Apr. 2026
Some pay TV providers, like Fubo and a few others, include ESPN Unlimited with their subscription.
—Takashi Williams, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pay TV.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pay%20TV. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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