pay television

American  

noun

1. a commercial service that broadcasts or provides television programs to viewers who pay a monthly charge or a per-program fee.

2. the programming provided.

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pay television British  

noun

1. Also called: subscription television.  a system by which television programmes are transmitted in scrambled form, unintelligible except to those who have paid for descrambling equipment Compare free-to-air pay-per-view

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Etymology

Origin of pay television

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

The bread and butter of independent distribution till now had been ancillary rights: DVDs, pay television, then pay-per-view.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2025

For years, channels would temporarily disappear from cable services amid disputes over carriage fees, or what carriers pay television companies for the rights to show their programming.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 15, 2025

"We have Australian content requirements on free-to-air television and pay television, but until now, there has been no guarantee that we could see our own stories on streaming services," Burke said.

From BBC • Nov. 4, 2025

A newspaperman at heart, Murdoch sensed by the 1980s that the media was changing and that pay television would be a central plank of the future.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 22, 2023

At Providence, Nelson made the original investment in Y.E.S., the Yankees’ pay television network, which was copied throughout baseball.

From New York Times • Jun. 14, 2022