Mark Taffet will step down as senior vice-president of US pay-television broadcaster HBO at the end of this year.
The resignation of Taffet (pictured), who has been credited with establishing the pay-per-view television model in boxing, comes just three weeks after Ken Hershman also announced he would be leaving his role as president of HBO Sports on December 31.
Taffet’s contract with HBO was due to expire on December 31.
During a 32-year career at HBO, Taffet helped to spearhead the launch of HBO PPV in 1991 and oversaw more than 190 pay-per-view events. He has also been involved in HBO Sports’ programming, marketing, scheduling and rights negotiations.
“I recognised early on that boxing had a unique characteristic which would lead to success on pay-per-view,” Taffet told the espn.com website. “The opportunity to watch a big fight in the comfort of your living room was a significant improvement over the then-existing big-fight experience of having to drive to an arena or racetrack [to watch on closed circuit], where picture quality and sound were poor at best and the possibility of having food and beverage being tossed through the air was great.”