airtime

noun

air·​time ˈer-ˌtīm How to pronounce airtime (audio)
1
: the time or any part of the time when a radio or television station is on the air
2
: the time at which a radio or television broadcast is scheduled to begin

Examples of airtime in a Sentence

The committee plans to buy radio airtime for the campaign ads.
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.
Trump’s hosting gig on SNL in 2015 also triggered the equal time rule, and NBC stations were on the hook when some of his rival candidates requested airtime. Ted Johnson, Deadline, 18 Sep. 2025 Shared ownership of deliverables forces them to practice building on each other instead of competing for airtime. Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025 The most popular spinoff, SVU, followed in 1999, and it's already beat the anchor series in terms of continuous airtime, as Law & Order took a 12-year hiatus from 2010-2021. Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Sep. 2025 Owens, who was then devoting much of her airtime to the legal drama between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, responded to Kraus on Instagram. Clare Malone, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for airtime

Word History

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of airtime was in 1924

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Airtime.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/airtime. Accessed 24 Sep. 2025.

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