A&E was formed in 1983 through the merger of ABC and Hearst's ARTS Network and NBC's Entertainment Channel, creating a partnership as unlikely as it has been successful.
The son of Greek immigrants, Davatzes was born and raised in New York City, and graduated from St. John's University, from which he received an honorary Ph.D. After 12 years with Xerox he was recruited to work for Gus Hauser at Warner Amex, which owned cable systems and programming services and where MTV and Nickelodeon were created.
Davatzes has been able to handle special issues attached to running a business owned by different partners for more than 17 years and has managed to keep all parties involved and satisfied.
[1] Davatzes grew up the son of Greek immigrants, on Eighth Avenue and 19th Street in New York's Chelsea district long before it was fashionable to live there.
He received a National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush and was admitted to the Phi Kappa Tau Hall of Fame in 2006.
In June 2003, Davatzes received the 2003 Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership from the National Cable Television Association.