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

See Examples For:

pay television

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

Walt Disney Chairman Bob Iger also cited the need to reach consumers who have never signed up for a pay television subscription.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2024

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

In its letter to shareholders, Netflix said the industry overall was “still very much in the early days” of the transition from traditional pay television to streaming.

From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2021