In today’s era we have numerous ways to watch our favorite films, tv shows, music videos etc. not only through cable and traditional TV, but with the advent of streaming platforms. Technology have made things easier for us to access anything at any given moment, but there was a time where this convenience wasn’t yet a reality. During the 1970s and 80s pay television(aka subscription television) was the option and equivalent of what streaming would be today. Around 1974 The Z Channel was created to offer viewers diverse programming that wasn’t normally shown on standard TV Channels. In this interview we speak with Jay Jennings Pop Culture Collector, Archivist and Curator of The Z Channel Tribute Page. Jay touches on the history of the Station, what made it unique and the importance of preserving vintage multimedia.
Z Channel Jacket
Photo courtesy of Jay Jennings
Ark: What sparked the idea for you to create a facebook page for the Z Channel? Did you ever work with the company?
JJ: I never worked for Z Channel, but like tens of thousands of residents and movie lovers growing up in Southern California in the early 70s and 80s, the Z Channel was our introduction to first run movies, art films, and cult cinema, as this was the only place to watch uncut movies besides our local movie theatres in Hollywood and Westwood, where a movie would play for a few weeks or a month and then disappear. The channel ran from 1974-89 and then was replaced by a Sports Channel, never to be heard from again until Xan Cassavetes outstanding documentary, “Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession” came out in 2004 and gave the inside scoop on how Z Channel came to be. I, personally, had never forgotten the Z Channel in the many years following its demise, as I kept some original Z Magazine issues and later was able to find a lot more. As far as the idea to create the “Z Channel Facebook Page”, it’s actually the second incarnation of a page I started when Facebook first came on the scene, as I administered many pop culture tribute pages at the time, but due to work, family, and lack of time to dedicate myself to them, I folded them…only to resurrect the Z Channel page in July 2023, so I could share my collection of Z Channel video clips, magazine covers, and articles with other fans.
Jerrold Cable Box
Photo courtesy of Jay Jennings
Ark: How did the Z Channel get its start and when was the first broadcast to the public? What was the focus behind its creation?
JJ: Z Channel was launched in 1974 by Theta Cable, which was later acquired by Group W (Westinghouse) in 1981. Operations were located in Santa Monica, California. The focus was to give movie fans who resided in certain parts of Los Angeles County, including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Hollywood, and other areas, their own “movie” channel (which, in itself, was an innovative concept at the time), while at the same time, a new push-button cable box was introduced to make channel browsing a more fun and easier experience. The Z Channel gave folks an opportunity to watch many classic films, silent films, foreign films, cult films, and original unedited versions of films that you couldn’t see anywhere else and that’s what made Z Channel so magical.
Ark: In this era of streaming, cable etc., we have some generations of viewers that weren’t born or are too young to know what pay television was, so could you elaborate more about that and its significance as a medium during the 1970s and 1980s?
JJ: Pay television (or subscription television) was a mostly welcomed, yet controversial addition to what people were used to watching on their TV’s in the 1970s and 80s. It was a “premium” channel in addition to the three network channels (CBS, NBC, and ABC) and the 4 or 5 local stations that were available at that time. In contrast to basic television, which mostly depended on advertising as their sources of revenue, “Pay TV” relied almost solely on monthly subscription fees paid by individual customers. As a result, Pay TV outlets like Z Channel were mostly concerned with offering content that can justify the cost of the service, which helped to attract new subscribers and retain existing ones. The fact that Z Channel offered content that no other basic TV channel offered, was greeted with enthusiasm and eager customers who couldn’t wait to sign up. Other similar Pay TV services such as SelectTV, ONTV, HBO, and Cinemax popped up a short time after Z Channel, but they just didn’t offer the same number of rare films and other content. Today, Pay TV has morphed into “streaming” channels and they are all quite similar, but back then it was a fresh and exciting new way to watch unavailable content.
Ark: It appears that the Z Channel was diverse in their content from artsy, obscure, overlooked and/or B-Movies with some popular releases as well. Was that a choice based on what was available at the time, or the vision of the programmer to make the station stand out from the competition?
JJ: When Z Channel first came on the scene in 1974, with its main goal of presenting first-run films and foreign fare, it was exciting and popular with the Hollywood community (i.e., writers, directors, producers), as it was a way to showcase these films to more people and even helped certain films gain recognition and award nominations, as the channel was proud to show special screenings of these films during Oscar season. In 1981, screenwriter Jerry Harvey was hired as head of programming and this move significantly changed Z Channel’s direction as a movie channel. Because of Harvey’s previous screenings of major directors work at local theatres with these directors in attendance, Harvey’s friendships with filmmakers such as Sam Peckinpah, Robert Altman, and Monte Hellman, as well as his relationship with the studios, gave him direct access to rare movie prints that no one else could secure. Case in point was Harvey’s discovery of Michael Cimino’s ‘Director’s Cut’ of “Heaven’s Gate” which was lying in a British vault. Z Channel was basically programmed by Harvey’s personal passion. Whatever unseen or uncut film that was available, or B-film, film noir, foreign film, art film, or cult film that Harvey, himself, would want to see, he made every effort to find that film and add it to Z Channel’s monthly programming schedule.
Z Channel Magazine in 1976
Photo Courtesy of Jay Jennings
Ark: Z Magazine was also a printed publication by the station. What are some of the things that were covered in the issues and how many years did it last?
JJ: Z Magazine, with its monthly listing of films, came out the same time as Z Channel started broadcasting, with the first issue being May/June 1974, Vol. 1, No. 1. It lasted the entire run of the Z Channel. From 1974-78, all the covers consisted of a black and white print, usually a scene from one of the movies that was screening that month. From late 1978 until the last magazine cover in 1989, the cover was in color, depicting a scene from a Z Channel movie that encompassed the entire cover, with one or two smaller scenes blended in. As far as content goes, it was usually 30 pages, consisting of the same six sections: Film reviews of each month’s screenings, Memorandum, Cable Column, Letters to Z, Celebrity Subscribers, and The Z in Zodiac by astrologist Sidney Omarr.
Z Channel Magazine in 1979
Photo Courtesy of Jay Jennings
Ark: The artwork on each cover of the magazine is really creative and interesting. Who was the artist behind it?
JJ: The creative artwork for those Z Magazine covers, especially the early ones from 1974-78 was the work of Dennis Merritt (Art Director) and Lorie Kennedy (Design and Production).
Ark: Some of the posts on the Z Channel Facebook page range from TV station ID’s, movie lineups and printed articles. What was the process of finding the content to preserve and share?
JJ: Well, full disclosure, I am a long-time pop culture collector and archivist, so I have a great deal of rare materials at my disposal and since I have run quite a few nostalgic, Facebook pages in the past, I kind’ve know what is fun to see and catchy to the eye, so I simply applied that to the Z Channel page. As far as finding this particular Z Channel content, that was the easy part, as I’ve been collecting Z Magazines for over 40 years and I recorded a lot of the Z Channel video footage myself (i.e. station ID’s, intros, promos, and bumpers) and transferred them to digital files so they can easily be accessed and uploaded to the Facebook page.
Ark: Does any Z Channel memorabilia exist? Were there any contests or giveaways held for viewers?
JJ: The only Z Channel memorabilia that I know of would be Z Magazine, or the large Z Magazine envelope it came in every month. You could also say the old Hamlin or Jerrold cable boxes are related to Z Channel in some way. Other forms of memorabilia would probably be owned by ex-Z Channel employees, like say, some old letterhead, office posters, t-shirt, or jacket (which I happen to own). The biggest one would be all those film prints from Jerry Harvey’s office. That’s probably the holy grail of Z Channel memorabilia.
Ark: How many years did Z Channel have it’s run?
JJ: 15 years, from 1974-89. What led to Z Channel’s demise was a few things. First, in 1987, Group W sold the company to Seattle-based businessman, Gordon Rock for $5 million. Then the stock market crash of 1987 didn’t help matters. Then Harvey accepted a merger with Spectacore, a sports channel, which eventually overshadowed the movie screenings. Followed by a lawsuit with rival Pay TV channels over “restraint of trade”. Finally the murder-suicide of Harvey’s then wife and himself was the last straw. His successor, Tim Ryerson did a decent job running Z Channel for its final year, but he didn’t really have the connections or passion as Harvey did, so on June 30, 1989, Z Channel went off the air for good.
Ark: Anything else coming up for the Z Channel Facebook page?
JJ: Just gonna keep uploading more rare, Z Channel video clips, articles, and magazine covers and share my collection with the many loyal fans who have liked and followed the page.
Ark: Why is it important to preserve vintage multimedia from the past?
JJ: Because vintage multimedia is slowly disappearing from history and the internet and only a few historians and gatekeepers like myself are scouring the estate sales, online auctions, and small, unknown internet archives trying to preserve what artifacts and bits of information are left. Most people’s attention spans aren’t what they used to be and interest is waning, so it’s important that we preserve these pieces of multimedia for future generations.
Ark: We look forward to seeing more content from your page! Where are some of the social platforms where people can find you?
JJ: Thanks for the interview.
I have my official Youtube channel at: youtube.com/@jayjenningstv The Retro Time Machine Podcast at: youtube.com/@retrotimemachinepodcast and of course, The Z Channel at: facebook.com/zchanneltribute
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