Salutes and remembrances have continued for Charles Dolan, a media pioneer who based HBO and Cablevision, after his demise on Saturday.
Dolan, the patriarch of a billionaire media household with appreciable holdings within the higher New York space, died at age 98 of pure causes. Throughout his extraordinary decades-long run in media, he helped create the pay-TV period by conceiving of the concept for HBO, constructing a significant cable supplier and launching the primary regional sports activities and information networks. His household additionally went on to realize management of many prized New York Metropolis property, amongst them the NBA’s Knicks and the NHL’s Rangers and their residence enviornment, Madison Sq. Backyard. Cablevision was bought in 2016 to Altice in a $17.7 billion deal.
In an announcement supplied to Deadline, AMC Networks (the operator of AMC and different networks, which spun off from Cablevision in 2011 and remains to be managed by the Dolans) stated it “mourns the lack of our founder and longtime chairman.” Dolan, the assertion went on, was “a visionary, a daring and fearless entrepreneur and, most significantly, a beautiful household man. His dedication and perseverance led him to construct corporations that profoundly reshaped media and expertise. He acknowledged early on {that a} tv distribution enterprise is simply nearly as good as the standard and variety of programming it gives to viewers. By Rainbow Media – which later turned AMC Networks – he sought to redefine and lift that bar in so some ways because the trade grew and advanced. His visionary spirit will stay on via the programming manufacturers and companies he created and the individuals who embody the values he held so pricey.”
Dolan bought his stake in HBO in 1974 to Time Inc., which might go on to kind Time Warner earlier than evolving into present guardian firm Warner Bros. Discovery.
David Zaslav, CEO of WBD, referred to as Dolan “a visionary inventive, a unprecedented enterprise chief and an amazing pal whose creation of HBO perpetually modified the standard and status of storytelling on tv. His influence continues to be felt at the moment at HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery and throughout our complete trade. He can be deeply missed. We ship our condolences to the complete Dolan household.”
Tributes additionally proliferated on-line. Ben Tatta, a media government who spent 10 years at Cablevision, wrote in a LinkedIn publish that Dolan’s legacy “will not be solely etched within the evolution of tv but additionally within the hearts and minds of those that knew him. His lifelong dedication to innovation and household serves as an everlasting inspiration. As we mourn his loss, we additionally rejoice a life that had huge influence on the world of leisure and the numerous lives he touched.”
Stan Fischler, a Corridor of Fame NHL broadcaster who labored at SportsChannel, the trailblazing regional sports activities community launched by Dolan within the Nineteen Seventies, hailed the late exec on X. He referred to as him “a gentleman, a scholar, a visionary and – better of all – only a nice man to work for and to know. R.I.P. Boss.”
Dolan and his household turned fixtures on Lengthy Island, the suburban redoubt east of New York Metropolis the place Cablevision was lengthy primarily based. Nassau County Govt Bruce Blakeman wrote on X that “‘Chuck’ was a vastly profitable enterprise chief, philanthropist, veteran, and proud Nassau resident who can be missed dearly.”
