: 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
And, increasingly, the monthly prices for those services are making the glory days of the pay TV bundle seem that much more appealing. Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 27 Mar. 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 The film got supported by the Ukrainian State Foundation, as well as French pay TV channel Canal + and broadcaster France Television. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 24 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 On Tuesday, Versant reported that its non-pay TV revenue reached 19% of total revenue in 2025, with roughly $826 million in platforms revenue. Lillian Rizzo, CNBC, 3 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1954, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pay TV was in 1954

Cite this Entry

“Pay TV.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pay%20TV. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.

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