Paying for entertainment that's dull for the most part (7)
I believe the answer is:
funding
'paying for' is the definition.
('fund' can be a synonym of 'pay for')
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for funding that I've seen before include "Financial backing" , "Money made available" , "Financial provision" .)