AMC Cable Channel Celebrates 10 Years--and Aims West : Television: The cable staple marks its first decade and plans to strengthen its on-air presence with new series while hoping to set up shop in L.A. next year.

A decade ago, a new cable TV channel called American Movie Classics gambled that viewers would have an insatiable appetite for motion pictures of the past that would bring back fond memories and deliver a sense of the nation’s pop history.

The gamble paid off big. Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, AMC--which actually was launched in late 1984 from its Long Island, N.Y., base but says it began marketing itself more nationally in 1985--has become a TV treasure chest of movies that were produced mainly between the 1930s and 1970s.

Bob Dorian, AMC’s longtime principal host, thinks “a lot of young people have come to be aware of what ‘30s and ‘40s movies had to offer. It’s kind of a reverse ‘Star Trek.’ They (the movies) are historical documents, which is why we’ve never colorized or cut them.”

AMC’s new daytime host, Nick Clooney, father of “ER” star George Clooney and brother of singer Rosemary Clooney, describes the channel as “inadvertent history--the movies reveal what we thought we were and what we really were.”

A new generation, meanwhile, has been provided with a panoramic, if Hollywoodized, view of the past and present--from social mores to old-time fashion glamour, which probably has had an impact on today’s trends.

And now, says Kate McEnroe, senior vice president of AMC, the channel is plotting some major steps to mark its first decade and strengthen its presence--among other things, planning on a Los Angeles broadcast center in addition to its Long Island site, assuming that details can be worked out here to satisfy the desires of the network.

McEnroe says AMC hopes to set up shop here in a historic mansion with a Hollywood tradition rather than in a movie or TV studio. And, in a phone interview from Long Island, she said she is determined that “we’re moving West as soon as we can find the right home and get through some of the zoning issues. I would say sometime in 1996.”

AMC also is planning on new series to supplement its nostalgic mix of movies, old newsreel excerpts, film trailers, occasional specials, musical shorts from the big-band era, interviews with motion picture figures and periodic hosting turns by such performers as Ali MacGraw, Shirley Jones and Donald O’Connor.

One such series, says McEnroe, is a group of half-hour programs by Michael Feinstein that “will pay respect to great composers.” She says it’s called “Sing a Song of Hollywood” and debuts June 13. Other series that AMC intends to play up concern family portraits of Hollywood figures and films that personalities say changed their lives.

In addition, says McEnroe, the channel is planning on a show called “WAMC,” a “dramatic series taking off from the 1940s radio days.” And also in June, says McEnroe, Lauren Bacall will launch “a film preservation showcase. It’s movies that have been preserved or restored from the AMC library.”

Is the competition from the new Turner Classic Movies channel forcing AMC to go on the offensive?

“No, I don’t think so,” says McEnroe. “It’s our 10th anniversary; we’re in 54 million homes; we’re trying to remove (AMC) from the kind of high-tech glitz of the cable medium and really focus on differentiating ourselves over the long term, when there are 500 channels, where there are multiples of everything and you have to stand out and be different.”

She points to the “packaged brand identities” of such cable channels as MTV and Nick at Nite, with its slick presentation of old sitcoms.

Is, however, AMC risking the loyalty of its devoted following by emphasizing fare other than the movies?

“I think what you’re going to see here,” says McEnroe, “is a very similar and moderate HBO, where HBO has kind of 12 or 14 big productions and movies and a couple of series. And that’s what we’re looking for at AMC. Our heart will always be American filmmaking, and this is just to add to the enjoyment of it.”

Will the changes result in fewer movies?

“No. Actually, I think by tightening up the breaks, we’ll be adding movies. And the half-hour programs allow us to start the movies at consistent times without having to put in a great deal of filler programs.

“What happens is we lose 50% or 60% of our audience (when) there’s not a consistent flow of programming. So what I think you’ll see starting in March and April and May is a more consistent network about the world of classic Hollywood.”

A move West entices the AMC people. Dorian and Clooney say that most viewers already think that the commercial-free channel originates in Hollywood. Says Dorian: “There’s no question it would be an advantage. That’s kind of where we belong.” McEnroe concurs: “You’d see more drop-in guests because we’re in their home town.”

Adds Clooney: “I want to talk to the writers, the special-effects people, the actors of the period. This is a vanishing resource. I feel the most important part of this century was the great Depression and World War II, and everything flowed up to it and out from it, and the movies are the soundtrack for it. Inadvertently, they were telling us what we really thought about each other--like women and minorities.”

“We think we represent the Golden Age of Hollywood,” says McEnroe, adding that a movie museum would be “a natural” as part of a mansion-style broadcast center here. AMC’s next decade, she says, will also focus on foreign markets, spinoff networks, more original productions, merchandising and retail outlets selling memorabilia.

AMC’s demographics are surprising--younger than might be expected. The channel cites a study that said 28% of its viewers are between 18 and 35 years old, 25% between 35 and 44, 16% between 45 and 54 and the remainder over 55.

“Our goal, our charter,” says McEnroe, “is to be the backdrop of Hollywood history. AMC is a home for filmmakers who know their pictures are not going to be colorized, they’re not going to be cut, they’re not going to be edited and we will preserve and present them in the style in which they should be seen.”