'''Pay television''' ('''pay TV'''), also known as '''subscription television''', '''premium television''' or, when referring to an individual service, a '''premium channel''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2016/04/michael-joe-coo-stx-entertainment-1201740352/|title=Former Universal & Relativity Exec Michael Joe Joins STX As Film Group COO|last=Busch|first=Anita|date=2016-04-19|website=Deadline|language=en|access-date=2019-09-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/10/why-time-warner-cable-can-t-cave-to-cbs-s-demands|title=Why Time Warner Cable Can't Cave to CBS's Demands|last=Gross|first=Daniel|work=The Daily Beast|date=2013-08-10|access-date=2019-09-04|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/business/media/epix-joining-the-world-of-scripted-tv-with-two-original-series.html|title=Epix Joining the World of Scripted TV With Two Original Series|last=Steel|first=Emily|date=2015-05-21|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-09-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/business/26steal.html|title=A Fight Brews Over Hollywood's Video 'Window'|last=Barnes|first=Brooks|date=2010-09-25|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-09-02|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> refers to [[Subscription business model|subscription]]-based [[television]] services, usually provided by [[multichannel television]] providers, but also increasingly via [[Digital terrestrial television|digital terrestrial]] and [[streaming television]]. In the United States, subscription television began in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the form of encrypted analog over-the-air broadcast television which could be decrypted with special equipment. The concept rapidly expanded through the [[multi-channel transition]] and into the [[post-network era]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The television will be revolutionized|last=Lotz, Amanda D.|isbn=9781479890392|location=New York, New York|oclc=891396456|year = 2014 |publisher=New York University Press}}</ref> Other parts of the world beyond the United States, such as [[Television in France|France]] and [[Latin America]] have also offered encrypted analog terrestrial signals available for subscription.
The term is most synonymous with premium entertainment services focused on films or general entertainment programming such as, in the United States, [[Cinemax]], [[HBO]], [[MGM+]], [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]], and [[Starz]], but such services can also include those devoted to [[List of sports television channels|sports]], as well as [[Sex industry#Adult entertainment|adult entertainment]].
