airtime

IPA/ˈeətaɪm/
KK[ˈɛrtˌaɪm]IPA/ˈertaɪm/

airtime — noun

1. the minutes or hours during which a person, song, advertisement, or topic is sho

1.nounC1
Definition

the minutes or hours during which a person, song, advertisement, or topic is shown or heard on radio or TV.

Example

The new pop star got more airtime on local radio than any other singer this month.

get + airtime + on [station/medium]

Channel 7 gave the climate scientist twenty minutes of airtime during the morning news.

give someone airtime

Common collocations
  • prime-time airtime
  • free airtime
  • paid airtime
  • minutes of airtime
  • equal airtime
Synonyms
  • broadcast time

    more general; describes any time a station is broadcasting, not just the slot given to a person or topic

  • coverage

    wider — refers to how much attention a topic receives across many media, not just minutes on one channel

  • screen time

    specific to TV or film; not used for radio

Grammar Patterns

airtime on radio/television

give/get airtime to someone

Usage Note

Uncountable: do not say 'an airtime' or 'airtimes'. Common verbs are give, get, receive, buy, and waste. Often followed by 'on' + the medium or station.

Common Mistakes

The singer got many airtimes this week.
The singer got a lot of airtime this week.
airtime is uncountable, so no plural form.
They bought airtime in CNN.
They bought airtime on CNN.
use 'on' before the channel or station name.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words touch on the time given to something in the media, but they are not interchangeable. 'Airtime' is the standard word when talking about how many minutes a person, song, or topic receives on radio or television, often in a competitive sense — politicians and advertisers buy or fight for airtime. 'Broadcast time' is broader and more technical, often referring to when a station is actually on air rather than the slot given to one item. 'Coverage' shifts the focus from minutes to attention: a story can get heavy coverage across newspapers, websites, and TV combined. 'Screen time' belongs to visual media only — film and television — and never radio. For example: 'The candidate complained about unequal airtime,' but 'The actor's screen time was cut to ten minutes.'

airtime ↗broadcast timecoverage ↗screen time

Common collocations

Nouns

  • minutes of airtime
  • hours of airtime
  • prime-time airtime
  • radio airtime
  • television airtime

Phrases

  • give someone airtime
  • get airtime
  • buy airtime
  • receive airtime
  • equal airtime
  • free airtime
  • waste airtime

Prepositions

  • airtime on (radio/TV)
  • airtime for (a topic/person)

Etymology

English

A 20th-century compound formed from 'air' (in the broadcasting sense of 'on the air', meaning being transmitted by radio waves) and 'time'. The phrase 'on the air' dates from the early days of radio in the 1920s, and 'airtime' emerged shortly after to name the minutes a station fills with programmes or that a particular item is given.