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
In addition to the broadband customer losses and mobile additions, Comcast lost 245,000 pay TV customers during the fourth quarter.
—
Lillian Rizzo, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
Well, pay TV spends half its budget, and broadcasters spend around a third.
—Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 28 Jan. 2026
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Lillian Rizzo, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
Well, pay TV spends half its budget, and broadcasters spend around a third.
—Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pay TV.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pay%20TV. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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