In the 1960s, Charles Dolan had a big idea: He wanted to bring cable TV to New York City.
In 1964, he made a deal with the city to wire some buildings in Manhattan with cable. A few years later, he had another idea: to show sports on cable to attract more viewers.
Mr. Dolan created a channel called Home Box Office, which showed movies on cable. He then sold his cable company and HBO and used the money to build Cablevision, which provided TV and internet service to many homes in the Northeast.
The Dolan family sold Cablevision in 2015 for nearly $18 billion to a European company called Altice.
By then, Mr. Dolan's son, James, was in charge. The family had mixed reviews from New Yorkers. Some were upset about their sports teams. Others were mad when the Dolans fought with networks. It sometimes kept big events off the air.
Still, Mr. Dolan had great success. When he died, he was worth over $5 billion. He left a major mark on the cable TV industry.
In 1964, he made a deal with the city to wire some buildings in Manhattan with cable. A few years later, he had another idea: to show sports on cable to attract more viewers.
Mr. Dolan created a channel called Home Box Office, which showed movies on cable. He then sold his cable company and HBO and used the money to build Cablevision, which provided TV and internet service to many homes in the Northeast.
The Dolan family sold Cablevision in 2015 for nearly $18 billion to a European company called Altice.
By then, Mr. Dolan's son, James, was in charge. The family had mixed reviews from New Yorkers. Some were upset about their sports teams. Others were mad when the Dolans fought with networks. It sometimes kept big events off the air.
Still, Mr. Dolan had great success. When he died, he was worth over $5 billion. He left a major mark on the cable TV industry.
