Charles Dolan, the visionary media entrepreneur behind the creation of Home Box Office (HBO) and Cablevision Systems Corp, has died at the age of 98.
Dolan, who founded HBO, transformed a cluster of small Long Island cable TV systems into a unified network named Cablevision. He built a groundbreaking communications, entertainment, and sports empire, which encompassed Madison Square Garden and its professional teams, amassing a significant fortune in the process.
Charles Dolan was a trailblazer in the cable TV industry, known for his bold approach to operations and marketing. In the 1960s, he launched Manhattan Cable, the nation’s first urban cable television network. He revolutionised the industry with Home Box Office, offering feature-length, commercial-free movies to subscribers willing to pay a premium. Dolan also broke new ground by creating SportsChannel, the first regional cable sports network, and expanded cable programming into arts with Bravo. Additionally, he pioneered local news coverage on cable through his Channel 12 outlets, solidifying his legacy as an innovator in television.
Cablevision Systems Corporation, founded by Dolan in 1973 with just 1,500 customers, grew to serve three million cable TV households in the New York metropolitan area. By September 2015, it was also providing internet and digital telephone services when Dolan finalised its $17.7 billion sale to Altice, a European media company. Today, Altice USA operates the company under the Optimum brand.
The Dolan family continues to hold significant influence in New York’s sports and entertainment landscape. They own the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corporation, which manages the iconic arena, as well as the Madison Square Garden Sports Corporation, which oversees the arena’s home teams, the Knicks and the Rangers. Additionally, they control MSG’s sports-programming cable TV channels, all under the leadership of Charles Dolan’s son, James.
The Dolans oversee a diverse portfolio, including AMC Networks, a long-term lease for New York’s iconic Radio City Music Hall, and operations of renowned venues such as the Beacon Theater in New York, the Chicago Theater, and the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Dolan was born on October 16, 1926, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
