Joseph J. Collins, Pivotal Figure In Tv's Transition To Cable And Internet, Dies At 81

Joseph J. Collins, a pivotal fig successful nan improvement of television’s modulation from broadcast power to cablegram and yet nan internet, died Thursday astatine his location successful Rhode Island. He was 81.

“Joe was instrumental successful building nan first cablegram systems, upgrading them to present hundreds of channels, past video connected demand, and yet nan broadband streaming and net apps that we each usage each time now,” erstwhile Time Warner president and CEO Jeff Bewkes said successful a statement.

Collins grew up successful upstate New York and graduated from Brown University successful 1966. He went connected to service successful nan Navy, wherever he earned a Combat Action Ribbon for his work during nan Vietnam War. After his service, he enrolled successful Harvard Business School, past took a occupation pinch American Television and Communications, a predecessor to Time Warner Cable. He yet became president of ATC. In 1984, he was named president of HBO, helping group nan shape for its eventual merger pinch Time Warner Cable, wherever he served arsenic CEO until 2001.

Collins helped move Time Warner Cable into a juggernaut recovered successful millions of homes while besides helping found it arsenic an early supplier of broadband internet. He is credited arsenic among nan individuals who foresaw that integer exertion could toggle shape cablegram into a telecommunications transportation system. After Time Warner’s landmark merger pinch AOL successful 2001, Collins was named main executive of AOL Time Warner Interactive Video, helping usher successful nan home-internet age.

“You’re really — we deliberation — to a ample grade going to beryllium getting telephone work complete nan cable, truthful that infrastructure that we’ve put successful spot to present much tv is tin of delivering moreover much things and arsenic nan world goes to integer nan database of things that tin beryllium delivered complete cablegram becomes unlimited from a connection standpoint,” he said successful a 1999 question and reply pinch The Cable Center, location to The Cable Hall of Fame.

In 2005, Collins was named to Comcast’s committee of directors, a domiciled he held for a decade. Comcast owns NBCUniversal, nan genitor institution of NBC News. He besides served doubly arsenic president of nan National Cable Telecommunications Association, arsenic good arsenic a president of C-SPAN.

A lifelong sailor, Collins group up an finance group that acquired vessel yards and marinas crossed New England successful his status years. He is survived by his woman of 54 years, Maura; 4 children; and 11 grandchildren.