Executive Chairman CEO of MSG Entertainment James L. Dolan shown in 2023. Dolan is the son of HBO creator Charles Dolan who died Saturday at the age of 98. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
HBO creator and billionaire Charles Dolan has died at the age of 98.
A long-time media entrepreneur, Dolan was selling special programming to hotels through his Teleguide service as cable television was beginning to emerge as an entertainment option in rural areas in the 1960s. Advertisement
In 1964, he made broadcasts of the NBA’s New York Knicks and NHL’s Rangers playoff games available on cable in some Manhattan apartment buildings through a deal with the borough of Manhattan, according to Variety.
Dolan went on to create the entertainment channel Home Box Office, which became known as HBO, 8 years later. It was an exclusive outlet to show movies that were only available on that channel. HBO required a subscription above and beyond cable services fees since day one.
He later sold HBO and his cable company to raise cash for Cablevision, which in turn provided service in the northeastern United States states. He sold Cablevision to a European company in 2015 for $18 billion.
HBO has since gone on to broadcast motion pictures and original TV programs as well as documentaries, stand-up comedy shows and concert specials. Advertisement
Dolan, with his son James taking control of the media empire, later became known as ‘the family that New Yorkers often loved to hate,’ according to the New York Times, over fights with networks over HBO programming that had threatened to keep customers from watching the Academy Awards and the World Series.
