Charlie Jablonski, NBC Olympics Veteran, Dies at 69

Charlie Jablonski, who won 12 sports Emmy Awards over a career at NBC and NBC Sports bringing the Olympic Games to TV viewers, has died. He was 69.

Jablonski died on Oct. 25 at his home on Lake George in New York State, with no cause of death given, according to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), which organizes the Sports Emmy Awards.

“It’s with a heavy heart that we share the news of the sudden passing of our friend and colleague Charlie Jablonski,” a NATAS statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter stated.

During his 16 years at NBC, Jablonski was vp of engineering and technology, where he had responsibility for the Olympics and World Cups. Starting with the 1988 Games in Soeul, he was managing director for Olympics engineering. His tenure coincided with the introduction of new technologies to broadcast the Olympics, and the shift in TV operations and transmission from analog to digital technologies and high definition TV.

While with NBC Sports, Jablonski earned 20 nominations for Emmy Sports Awards and 12 trophies for his work on the Olympics and World Cups. He was also recognized with an engineering Emmy for innovation for his work on the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jablonski as an innovator in entertainment production and distribution continued as an advisor and consultant to NBC Olympics for its production of the Olympics until his death this weekend. That included consulting on how to bring major sporting competitions in challenging locations in the U.S. and internationally to the TV screen and digital platforms.

NATAS president and CEO Adam Sharp said on news of Jablonski’s passing: “Anyone who worked alongside Charlie for as little as a single meeting was instantly familiar with his superior technical intellect, quick wit, and skeptical humor. A legend in sports television, broadcast engineering, and the leadership of our Academy, he dedicated countless hours to the integrity of the Emmy competitions, the advancement of our industry, and the mentorship of those he championed.”

Jablonski was with NATAS for nearly five decades, most recently as vice chair of its National Awards Committee and chair emeritus of the Technology & Engineering Awards Committee after he chaired that body from 1988 to 2011. 

Born on Feb. 17, 1956 in Detroit, Michigan, Jablonski graduated from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1977 and joined NBC in 1983.

“Charlie’s influence can be found, not just in the breadth of his work, but in those called colleagues, friends, and family. At the helm of some of the industry’s biggest changes, like HDTV, Surround Sound, and the move to IP networks to name a few, his contributions to the world of media cannot be understated,” the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, of which Jablonski is an honorary member and a past president, said in its own statement.

Jablonski is survived by his wife, Ellen. Memorial details will be announced at a later date, according to NATAS.