New York, Dec 30 (UNI) Charles Dolan, the pioneering media mogul who revolutionised entertainment by founding HBO and Cablevision, has died aged 98.
Emerging in the 1960s as a trailblazer in cable television, Dolan initially provided programming to hotels through his Teleguide service. In 1964, he made his first major foray into urban cable systems by wiring select Manhattan buildings.
Recognising the power of live sports, he later secured deals to broadcast New York “Knicks and Rangers” playoff games, setting a precedent for exclusive content on cable, according to a BBC report.
This innovation culminated in the 1972 launch of Home Box Office (HBO), the first-ever subscription-based premium channel. Offering movies and exclusive programming, HBO redefined entertainment consumption and set the stage for the streaming era. Eventually he sold both his cable service and HBO to build up, redirecting his focus to Cablevision, which grew to provide television and internet services to millions of households across the northeastern United States.
In 2015, the Dolan family sold Cablevision to European company Altice for nearly $18bn (£14.3bn). At the time, Dolan’s son, James Dolan, had assumed leadership of the family enterprise, which also encompassed ownership of ‘Madison Square Garden’ and the ‘New York Knicks’.
And the Dolans had become “the family that New Yorkers often loved to hate”, according to the New York Times, over frustration over the Knicks’ performance and fights with networks over their programming that had threatened to keep customers from watching the Academy Awards and the World Series.
At the time of his passing, Dolan was valued at $5.4bn (£4.3bn), according to Forbes.
