The American media man, who launched the cable channel in 1972, was 98 years old.
New York, N.Y.: Cablevision chairman Charles Dolan attends a New York Cable Club luncheon at Tavern on the Green in New York, New York on April 16, 2001. (Photo by Alan Raia/Newsday RM via Getty Images) Newsday LLC / Newsday RM via Getty Images
By Émilie Gavoille
Published on December 29, 2024 at 11:10 a.m.
Swithout necessarily knowing his face or his name, fans of Sopranoof Six Feet Underor even Girls owe him a lot… Charles Dolan, the creator of the famous American cable channel HBO (for Home Box Office), which he initiated in 1972, died at the age of 98.
Hailed by all as a visionary media man, who understood before many others the potential of subscription television, the Cleveland native was also at the origin of News 12, the first local 24-hour cable TV channel. in the United States as well as the Cablevision group, finally sold to Altice in June 2016.
Prize list:
The 50 best series of all time according to “Télérama”
Charles Dolan was a success story as Americans – and the TV series fans for whom he has done so much – love it. Arriving at the age of 26 from his native Midwest in the bustling Big Apple of the 1950s, this inspired self-made man ended up leading one of Manhattan’s most prominent entertainment empires. In addition to his activities in the media, he had invested in the sports sector (on the basketball side, the Knicks, and on the ice hockey side, the Rangers) but also in live entertainment. Two of New York’s most iconic venues, Radio City Hall and Madison Square Garden, are still under the leadership of his son James, to whom he handed over in the mid-90s. Successionbut it looks like it…
With HBO, the world’s first pay channel and cradle of modern television series, Charles Dolan invented a model that many audiovisual company bosses have tried to reproduce… without ever matching it. Like, in France, Canal+.
40 years of Canal:
40 years of Canal: the ten best original series from the encrypted channel according to “Télérama”
Swiss
