Cynthia Littleton Business EditorNickolas Davatzes, longtime CEO of A+E Networks who steered the launch of A&E Network and History Channel, died Saturday at his home in Wilton, Conn.
He was 79.Davatzes joined the company as CEO in 1983 just as A&E Networks was formed through the merger of fledgling cable channels Entertainment Network, owned by RCA and the Rockefeller family, and ARTS Network, owned by Hearst and ABC.
A+E Networks today is a 50-50 joint venture of the Walt Disney Co. and Hearst Corp. Davatzes served as CEO emeritus.Davatzes led the company’s launch of the signature A&E Network (an amalgam of Arts and Entertainment) in 1984 and History Channel in 1995 (History formally dropped “Channel” from its moniker in 2008).
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