Disney Cuts Nearly 200 Jobs at ABC News and Entertainment Networks
The Walt Disney Co. is slashing just under 200 jobs at ABC News and at its Disney Entertainment Networks division as the traditional TV business continues to face economic headwinds, a source familiar with the decision tells The Hollywood Reporter. The cuts represented about 6 percent of the division's workforce.
ABC News will be hit particularly hard, with the data-driven digital news brand 538 being shuttered, teams from Nightline and 20/20 being consolidated, and all three hours of Good Morning America moving under the same top producer, Simone Swink. The company is also merging its digital and social operations.
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Disney's entertainment networks will see cuts in program planning and scheduling, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the cuts there. Disney's channels include FX and Freeform. The newsletter Status first reported the looming cuts at ABC News.
ABC News last saw job cuts last fall, when around 75 jobs were eliminated. The news division had announced Almin Karamehmedovic as its president last August.
Broadcast news divisions in general are grappling with the changing economics of TV, with structures increasingly consolidated in divisions alongside local TV stations, and the role of network news president being a smaller role than it was in they heyday of TV. Disney writ large announced structure-driven job cuts last September.
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