Charles Dolan, the influential pay-television pioneer who won the first cable TV franchise in Manhattan and founded Home Box Office Inc. (HBO), has passed away at the age of 98. Dolan died on Saturday of natural causes, surrounded by family, as reported by Newsday.
Dolan was known as a maverick and visionary in the cable industry, often surprising investors and rivals while occasionally frustrating Wall Street with his company’s debt levels. He successfully outmaneuvered larger competitors to gain control of Cablevision’s founding cable systems and later acquired New York’s Madison Square Garden, along with its professional sports teams, including the NBA’s New York Knicks, the NHL’s New York Rangers, and the WNBA’s New York Liberty. He remained chairman of Cablevision even after his son, James Dolan, took over as CEO in 1995.
Early Career and Founding of Cablevision
Dolan’s journey in the television industry began after he lost control of his first two businesses, including HBO. In 1973, he founded Cablevision on Long Island, initially serving just 1,500 customers. He maintained tight control over the company, even after it went public in 1986, by holding a majority of Class B shares that allowed him to elect three-fourths of the board of directors.
Liberty Media Corp. Chairman John C. Malone praised Dolan’s ability to build and retain control of his company, stating, “His portfolio is greatly diversified. There is no single mistake that could ever take him down.”
Under Dolan’s leadership, Cablevision launched the first 24-hour local news channel in the U.S. on Long Island in 1986. By mid-2015, the company had approximately 2.6 million video subscribers in the greater New York City area. Later that year, Cablevision was acquired by Altice NV in a $17.7 billion deal, marking Dolan’s exit from the cable business after more than four decades.
Legacy and Family Life
Dolan was born on October 16, 1926, in Cleveland, Ohio, the second of four sons. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, he returned to Cleveland and enrolled at John Carroll University, where he met his future wife, Helen Burgess. The couple ran a business selling sports reels to television stations before Dolan transitioned into the cable industry.
Throughout his career, Dolan launched several successful cable networks, including Bravo, American Movie Classics, and the Independent Film Channel. He also made significant investments in movie theaters and electronics stores, and in 2010, he spun off Madison Square Garden as a separate entity.
Dolan is survived by his wife, Helen, and their six children: Kathleen, Marianne, Deborah, Thomas, Patrick (president of News 12 Networks), and James (chairman of Madison Square Garden Co.). His contributions to the cable television industry have left an indelible mark, shaping the landscape of entertainment for generations to come.
