Joseph J. Collins, Former HBO President and Cable Executive, Dies at 81

Joseph J. Collins, who held senior executive positions at Time Warner Cable, Comcast and other cable companies, died on April 2 at his home in Weekapaug, Rhode Island. He was 81. A family representative stated that the cause of death was unspecified.

Collins was born in Troy, New York, in 1944. He graduated from Brown University and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. Between those degrees, he served in the United States Navy, reaching the rank of lieutenant and receiving the Vietnam Combat Action Ribbon for service during the Vietnam War.

In 1972, Collins joined American Television and Communications as marketing director in Orlando, Florida. He later became president of the company a decade later. In 1984, he was appointed president of HBO.

returned to American Television and Communications as chairman and CEO.

He oversaw its merger with Time Warner Cable and served as CEO of the combined entity. His career spanned the period when cable operators expanded into broadband services, with Time Warner Cable investing in broadband infrastructure that later became part of Charter Communications. Deadline reported that Collins advanced hybrid fiber-coaxial architecture, used for high-speed cable internet.

He was a contemporary of industry figures such as John Malone. Collins also founded and chaired C-SPAN, chaired CableLabs, led the board of directors at Comcast, and served on the boards of Turner Broadcasting and TriStar Pictures. While on the Turner Broadcasting board, Collins participated in its merger with Time Warner.

He was inducted into the Cable Center Hall of Fame in 2001 and received other industry honors.

Jeff Bewkes, former CEO of Time Warner, issued a statement through Collins's family.

“Joe was instrumental in building the first cable systems, upgrading them to deliver hundreds of channels, then video on demand, and finally the broadband streaming and internet apps that we all use every day now.”

Collins lived for many years in Darien, Connecticut, and later divided his time between Weekapaug, Rhode Island, and Jupiter Island, Florida. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Maura McManman Collins; his children, Maura Farley Lucke, Elizabeth Dempsey Fitton, Joseph Jameson Collins Jr.

and Kathryn “Tryn” Collins; and 11 grandchildren. A funeral service is scheduled for April 13 in Rhode Island.