The Walt Disney Company continues to restructure its operations as its business environments continue to evolve. This has led to thousands of jobs being eliminated in the last couple of years. In the last few months, there have been jobs cut at the corporate level and also at Pixar Animation Studios. Today it was learned that ABC News has laid off 75 employees.
The layoffs came from both ABC News and ABC-owned local stations. The layoffs will not impact programming. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the layoffs are split fairly evenly between the national and local levels. No entire teams were let go. According to someone familiar with the situation, the cuts are coming to make the company more “sustainable, efficient and future-forward.”
The news was shared by ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic and ABC stations chief Chad Matthews on Wednesday, when the layoffs took place.
“As you know, this has been happening across the broader company and the industry at large in recent weeks and months,” Karamehmedovic wrote. “For us, it means shaping a team that embraces the new media landscape and evolves along with it, which we must do to continue serving our viewers.
“As we look to the future and refining a team that is not only capable of excellence in reporting and delivering the highest quality content but is also streamlined and sustainable, we must occasionally make some tough decisions,” he continued. “Unfortunately, today is one of those days.”
Matthews said, “It’s no secret that our industry is undergoing a transformation unlike any other, and we’re seeing headlines every day about streamlining across every major media company. While we’re not immune to the pressures facing this business today, we have been — and will continue to be — strategic with decisions about our organization’s future.
“Local news is the lifeblood of every market, and we are fortunate to have so many talented teams across the country invested in the communities the way that you are,” he continued. “Nothing is going to change our commitment to viewers as we evolve our organization to meet the challenges of today and in the future.”
As The Walt Disney Company continues to evolve, there have been a lot of changes to its television businesses. This comes as it looks toward the future, which is streaming. This has led to the consolidation of all scripted programming into one division. ABC Signature studio also was consolidated into 20th TV.
On a much bigger picture, Disney has cut over 7,000 jobs to date as part of its cost-cutting efforts. Since Bob Iger returned to the CEO role at Disney, he has sought to streamline the company and make it more efficient. This led to the restructuring of the company into three major divisions: Entertainment, ESPN, and Experiences. Iger is also actively working on a succession plan for the role of CEO. This is being done with a committee from Disney’s Board of Directors.
