Z Music Television was a Christian-oriented
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
channel with a
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
format similar to that of
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, and, in its earliest days, direct marketing appeals similar to The Home Shopping Network.
Their programming, largely
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
s with some
documentaries
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...
, interstitial "Z Buzz" news updates, and media related shows,
was characterized as being aimed at "12-to 54-year olds."
Unlike style oriented channels such as
Country Music Television
Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...
, they were not limited to a particular musical genre; they played the full spectrum of
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...
from
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
to
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
.
Z Music Television closed in 2000.
Background
Founded in 1991 by David McQuade, Z's offices were based in
Lake Helen,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
Z Music Television first aired in March 1993,
by which time the channel was helmed by former HSN consultant Kenneth Yates, who sought to make the channel more profitable by introducing "sales jockey" segments marketing Christian music CDs and cassettes, bibles, and other lifestyle products, directly to viewers. The network was acquired by
Gaylord Entertainment Company in 1994, which moved network operations to the Opryland complex in Nashville, TN.
Estimates of audience potential vary widely, but in 1996 the channel was available to between 20
and 35
million homes. The network was not part of the 1996 sale of sister GEC networks
TNN and
CMT to
CBS's cable division. On June 30, 2000 Gaylord ceased the operations of Z Music and gave cable operators the option of replacing it with
Video Rola music channel, which was then distributed by Gaylord. Also, Gaylord shifted their efforts toward the internet for Christian music with Musicforce.com and Lightsource.com.
Programming
Z Music sought to place itself in a market segment that would be visible, even inviting, to non Christians while maintaining a direct appeal to Christians.
For instance in advertising the network would downplay the word "Christianity;" sometimes the word would not appear.
Instead the channel would focus on the positive, uplifting, and "objection-free nature of Z Music programming."
The channel extensively partnered with record labels, its first partnership was a 1995 campaign with
Benson Records.
Even while investing in videos, some record labels indicated that their airing had no measurable impact on an artist's performance.
In response, starting about 1996, the company began tweaking the channel's format, introducing shows dealing with
lifestyle,
and including videos which could be classified as "positive mainstream." Potentially, according to Suzanne Holtermann (manager of marketing), this could mean playing music videos by groups such as
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...
and other mainstream acts alongside Christian market bands such as
dc Talk
DC Talk (stylized as dc Talk) is a Christian hip hop, Christian rap and Christian rock, rock trio. The group was formed at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987 by tobyMac, Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait, and Kevin Max, Kevin Max Smith ...
, though such broad mainstream diversity was never actually realized.
![Z Music Television - Joe Gow Study](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Z_Music_Television_-_Joe_Gow_Study.svg)
In the late 1990s two studies of Z Music's programming classified its music videos into three categories based upon their audible and visible
religious characteristics.
As defined by their author these are:
*Unequivocally Religious — 17%
(Green) — "explicitly religious lyrics and visuals"
*Moderately Religious — 52%
(Blue) — "While religious lyrics continue to be used, visual images are not explicitly Christian... If viewers were to turn down the sound while watching the clip it is unlikely that they would associate any religious qualities with it."
*Ambiguously Religious — 31%
(Red) — "Here spiritual imagery is downplayed even further... blending visuals that are not explicitly Christian with lyrics that are open to interpretation with regard to religion."
The conclusion of the studies was that by showing a high number of videos with ambiguous spiritual content, the programming of Z Music Television was designed to make their Christian nature "apparent only to those willing to listen for it."
It also stated that this finding conflicts with a traditional view that Christian performers should be ministers first, then entertainers.
See also
*
The Worship Network
*
Gospel Music Channel
*
Gospel Music Network
The Gospel Music Network was a US commercial Christian cable television station launched in 1986 by Bill and Linda Airy. At the time, the Airys owned a full-service advertising agency in Albuquerque, New Mexico. One of the agency's clients was ...
*
BET Gospel
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
*
WPOZ
WPOZ (88.3 MHz) is a non-commercial, listener-supported FM radio station licensed to Orlando, and serving Central Florida. It is owned by the Central Florida Educational Foundation, Inc., and it broadcasts a Contemporary Christian radio forma ...
: non-affiliated radio broadcaster also using "Z"-branded Gospel
References
*
*{{cite journal , last=Parker , first=Mike , date=October 1999 , title=Gaylord Entertainment to Beef up Z Music Television , journal=
CCM Magazine
''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications.
History
''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has bee ...
, issn=1524-7848 , volume=22 , issue=4 , pages=18
Christian television networks
Defunct music video networks
Television channels and stations established in 1992
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2000