.tv Domains: Renewal Cost, Lifecycle & Drop Rules
.tv belongs to Tuvalu, a Pacific nation of about 11,000 people whose TLD happens to spell television. Licensing the extension has been a meaningful share of the country's national revenue for two decades — first through Verisign, and since 2022 through GoDaddy Registry.
For investors, .tv is a premium-priced ccTLD with a familiar lifecycle and demand tied tightly to video, streaming, and live content.
- Registry operator
- GoDaddy Registry (for Tuvalu; operated by Verisign until 2021)
- Type
- ccTLD (Tuvalu), used generically for video/TV
- Typical annual renewal
- Typically $25-$40/yr at most registrars
- Minimum registration
- 1 year
- Redemption / grace
- 45-day auto-renew grace, 30-day redemption, then pending delete
- RDAP / WHOIS
- Yes — RDAP available
What .tv is and who uses it
.tv is Tuvalu's ccTLD, operated under a long-term agreement by GoDaddy Registry since Verisign's contract ended in 2021. The registrant base is exactly what the string suggests: streamers, channels, live-video platforms, sports properties, and media brands. Twitch's use of twitch.tv normalized the extension for a generation of streaming audiences, which is worth more than any marketing campaign the registry could have run.
Renewal costs
Retail renewals typically run $25-$40 per year — .tv has always been priced as a premium product, and as a ccTLD it carries no ICANN price caps. The registry also maintains premium tiers: many short and generic .tv names carry elevated recurring renewal prices, a structure dating back to the Verisign era. Confirm the renewal rate on any aftermarket .tv before you commit.
Never lose a domain to a missed renewal
Sourdough tracks every expiry date via live RDAP data and emails you a renewal ladder before anything drops. 7 days free, then $10/mo. $0 due today.
What happens when a .tv domain expires
.tv follows the standard pattern investors know from gTLDs: a 45-day auto-renew grace period where your registrar can still renew at the normal price, a 30-day redemption period where recovery requires a restore fee (typically $70-$200 retail), then a short pending-delete stage before the name drops. Expiring .tv names with streaming relevance get routed through registrar auction streams, and drop-catch services cover the extension.
Transfer rules and gotchas
- •Standard EPP auth-code transfers adding a year; usual 60-day locks apply.
- •Premium-tier renewal pricing persists across registrars and transfers.
- •Registrar spread on .tv retail pricing is wide — comparing can save $10+ per name per year.
Investor notes
.tv demand rises and falls with the streaming economy. One-word and channel-style names sell to real end users; generic long-tail names mostly do not. At $25-$40 per year the carry cost is 2-3x .com, so .tv positions should be conviction holds tied to the video niche rather than broad speculation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a .tv domain cost to renew?
Typically $25-$40 per year at most registrars for standard names. Registry premium names renew at elevated recurring rates. As a ccTLD, .tv has no ICANN price caps and pricing can change over time.
What happens when a .tv domain expires?
A 45-day auto-renew grace period at the normal renewal price, then a 30-day redemption period with a restore fee, then pending delete and the drop. Registrar expiry auctions commonly intercept desirable names during the grace window.
Who runs the .tv registry?
.tv is Tuvalu's country-code TLD. GoDaddy Registry has operated it under agreement with the Tuvalu government since 2022, taking over from Verisign, whose contract ran from 2001 to 2021.