: 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

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.
Traditional pay-TV operators like cable and satellite companies are covered by affiliate deals that create close to a 50-50 split when its comes to retransmission consent fees. Dade Hayes, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2025 Also, Spanish pay-TV/SVOD operator Movistar Plus+ and Netflix, both out in force at this year’s San Sebastián, are the two companies that have moved most the needle in Spanish film production over the last five years. John Hopewell, Variety, 20 Sep. 2025 With the rise of streaming, the pay-TV ecosystem has bled consumers, and broadcast TV networks and local affiliates have also felt the effects. Lillian Rizzo, CNBC, 19 Sep. 2025 But for cord-cutters who’ve been holding on to cable or a digital live-TV bundle such as YouTube TV, and don’t mind watching a few hours later, the arrival of these two ratings heavyweights offers one more incentive to drop the pay-TV bundle. Josef Adalian, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for pay-TV

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-TV. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

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