Charles Dolan, the American cable television pioneer who founded HBO, has died at the age of 98.
The news was confirmed by Newsday, a Long Island-based newspaper that is owned by the Dolan family, on Saturday (December 28). “Remembered as both a trailblazer in the television industry and a devoted family man, his legacy will live on,” the tribute read.
Dolan is considered one of the most influential figures in modern television history, anticipating the importance of cable television in the 1960s, and later overseeing the rise of the AMC network, as well as owning a range of major sporting and live music venues.
Charles Dolan, president of Cablevision, on December 26, 1979. (Photo by Dick Yarwood/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
He was born on October 16, 1926 in Cleveland, Ohio, but got his start in Manhattan, where in 1961 he began the process of laying the wires for the launch of Manhattan Cable Television. Realising that the city’s skyscrapers was blocking satellite signals, he won the rights to wire the lower half of Manhattan in 1964, and was soon broadcasting New York Knicks and Rangers games exclusively to the home market.
In 1971, he launched Home Box Office (HBO), working closely with Hollywood studios to distribute movies for subscription home viewing, and two years later he founded Cablevision, a multi-system operator that became one of the most lucrative cable television operators in the United States. In 2016, Dolan sold Cablevision for $17.7billion (£14billion).
American Movie Classics (AMC) was an offshoot of Cablevision and grew to national prominence, with the network now home to many major studios, including BBC America, IFC and Shudder.
By the 1990s, Dolan and his family owned the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall, with his son James now running MSG. The family are also backers of Sphere Entertainment Co., the group behind the state-of-the-art Las Vegas Sphere venue and its upcoming offshoots.
Dolan’s wife of 73 years, Helen, died in 2023. Charles Dolan is survived by his six children and numerous grandchildren.
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