AMC (TV channel)

AMC is an American cable television channel that, since 2002, mainly airs a mix of original AMC shows, mostly dramas and documentaries, as well as acquired TV programs, and theatrically released films. Launched in late 1980 as Montage, a Cablevision Programming Services project in the New York City, it originally broadcast classic films in black and white (from before 1970). The network changed its name to American Movie Classics in late 1984 and became the flagship namesake property of Rainbow Media (a predecessor to AMC Global Media). In 2002, AMC retired the American Movie Classics name, resulting from the major shift in its programming.

As of December 2024, AMC was available in approximately 60 million U.S. pay-TV households. This marks a decline from 65.1 million households in December 2023 and 94.8 million in July 2015, reflecting the broader trend of cord-cutting and the shift toward streaming platforms.

History

1984–2002: Focus on classic films

Its origins can be traced back to the launch of its predecessor network Montage which was first launched in late 1980 by AMC Global Media's predecessor Rainbow Media, and initially offered classic movies largely made prior to the 1970s under a commercial-free format to Cablevision subscribers in the New York area. The network changed its name to American Movie Classics, originally abbreviated as AMC, on October 1, 1984, and became a premium channel at the same time. AMC's original format continued to focus on classic movies which were aired during the afternoon and early evening hours in a commercial-free, generally unedited, uncut, uninterrupted and uncolorized format.

In 1985, Rainbow became involved in a dispute with Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System over broadcast rights to the MGM/UA film library.