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
Successful theatrical films would go onto earn respectable pay TV and home entertainment dollars, meanwhile.
—
Dick Lippin, HollywoodReporter, 6 Mar. 2026
Elsewhere, the long-running series The Call of the Mountain, about an alpine doctor, has been snagged by JOJ for Slovakia and by the AXN White channel for pay TV in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
—Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 6 Mar. 2026
The company is made up of a portfolio of pay TV networks including CNBC, MS Now, USA Network, Golf Channel, Syfy, E!
—Lillian Rizzo, CNBC, 3 Mar. 2026
Now, the successor companies of both Time-Warner and Viacom, which battled for years in the pay TV space, will now be united.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 2 Mar. 2026
One of the challenges facing the broadcasting market is a shift in focus, from pay TV and streaming services alike, away from acquiring new subscribers and towards profitability.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2026
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Dick Lippin, HollywoodReporter, 6 Mar. 2026
Elsewhere, the long-running series The Call of the Mountain, about an alpine doctor, has been snagged by JOJ for Slovakia and by the AXN White channel for pay TV in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
—Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 6 Mar. 2026
The company is made up of a portfolio of pay TV networks including CNBC, MS Now, USA Network, Golf Channel, Syfy, E!
—Lillian Rizzo, CNBC, 3 Mar. 2026
Now, the successor companies of both Time-Warner and Viacom, which battled for years in the pay TV space, will now be united.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 2 Mar. 2026
One of the challenges facing the broadcasting market is a shift in focus, from pay TV and streaming services alike, away from acquiring new subscribers and towards profitability.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pay TV.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pay%20TV. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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