pay TV

noun

ˈpā-ˈtē-ˈvē 

: 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 tv

Examples of pay TV in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

All Hayu content will be available on demand at no extra charge to Sky Ultimate TV customers, as well as all Sky Q and Sky+ pay TV customers. — John Archer, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026

The amount also integrates obligations tied to OCS, a formerly rival pay TV group which Canal+ bought in 2023. — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 27 July 2026

Consumers bypassing or canceling their cable subscriptions are cutting into the fees stations receive from pay TV providers. — Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2026

Last month, the company's pay TV subsidiary Dish DBS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after deferring debt payments. — Sarah Min, CNBC, 7 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1954, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pay TV

• be
• bee
• bree
• cree
• fee
• flea
• flee
• free
• gee
• ghee
• glee
• he