Charles Dolan, the television pioneer who founded HBO and Cablevision, has died at the age of 98

Television pioneer Charles F. Dolan, who founded several programs Media companiesincluding Home Box Office Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp., has died. It was 98.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved father and patriarch, Charles Dolan, the visionary founder of HBO and Cablevision,” his family said in a statement to Newsday.

A family spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that he “died peacefully of natural causes, surrounded by his loved ones.”

“Remembered as a pioneer of the television industry and a devoted family man, his legacy will live on,” the spokesperson added.

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Dolan’s legacy Cable TV It includes the founding of Home Box Office, which later became known as HBO, in 1972 and the founding of Cablevision the following year. He also launched the American Movie Classics television station in 1984.

He was also founder and chairman emeritus of the Lustgarten Foundation in Uniondale, New York, which conducts pancreatic cancer research.

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Additionally, he launched News 12 on New York Citythe first 24-hour local news cable channel in the United States

Dolan, a Cleveland native whose primary home was in the village of Cove Neck on New York’s Long Island, also has controlling stakes in companies that own Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers, according to Newsday. .

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The cable TV pioneer has six children, 19 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. His wife, Helen Ann Dolan, died last year.

The Wall Street Journal contributed to this report.