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

Television pioneer Charles F. Dolan, who founded a multitude media companiesincluding Home Box Office Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp., died. He was 98.

“It is with deep 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 spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that he “died peacefully of natural causes, surrounded by his loved ones.”

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

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Charles F. Dolan died at 98. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

Dolan’s legacy in cable television included the founding of Home Box Office, later 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 is also the founder and chairman emeritus of The Lustgarten Foundation in Uniondale, New York, which conducts pancreatic cancer research.

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Dr. William Baker, Katherine Williams and Charles Dolan, CEO of Cablevision, attend the 2011 Center For Communications Luncheon at The Pierre Hotel on October 17, 2011. in New York. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

He also launched News 12 in New York Citythe first 24-hour local news cable channel in the US

Dolan, a Cleveland native whose primary home was in New York’s Long Island’s Cove Neck Village, also held controlling interests in companies that owned Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers, according to Newsday.

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Neil Sedaka, Charles Dolan and Diana Feldman. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

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The cable television pioneer is survived by six children, 19 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. His wife, Helen Ann Dolan, died last year.

The Wall Street Journal contributed to this report.