The Z Channel was one of the early pay television stations in the United States (1974–1989) best known for its devotion to the art of cinema due to the eclectic choice of films[1] by the programming chief Jerry Harvey.

Z Channel was launched in 1974 by Theta Cable[2] (a division of TelePrompTer Corporation and Hughes Aircraft Co.) which was acquired by Group W (Westinghouse) in 1981.

As such, the network featured a wide variety of films not typically shown on other pay television services at the time.

On Christmas Eve 1982, Harvey made the decision to show the original (previously unreleased in two years) version of Heaven's Gate, a movie that had been considered a disaster by all accounts.

Z Channel's devotion to cinema and choice of rare and important films had an influence on such directors as Robert Altman, Quentin Tarantino, Alexander Payne and Jim Jarmusch.