Walt Disney is cutting jobs in its television unit. The move will result in two per cent of Disney Entertainment Television being laid off, which is equal to about 140 people. National Geographic will see its team being trimmed by 13 per cent. The layoffs are aimed at cutting costs, and will also affect ABC-owned television stations, Freeform (the cable channel), Disney’s linear networks, unscripted, marketing and publicity.
With about 60 roles cut, NatGeo will witness the maximum layoffs.
Given the dwindling number of takers for cable networks, the streaming business has become very competitive.
Bob Iger, CEO, Disney, had announced the plan to trim the workforce in February 2023, to streamline Disney’s operations amid economic uncertainty and pressure from Wall Street regarding the profitability of the company’s streaming services. Disney began informing employees of layoffs starting on 27 March 2023. The initial job cuts affected divisions such as ABC News.
Earlier this year, in February 2024, Disney officials announced a second round of layoffs as part of their ongoing cost-cutting measures, affecting more employees. By 29 February 2024, the company planned to complete 4,000 out of the 7,000 job cuts it had talked of earlier in the year, aiming to save $5.5 billion.
A couple of weeks ago, Fox Entertainment spoke of a restructuring exercise, which would include 30 job cuts. The reorganisation involved eliminating redundancies in order to align the operations with the company’s growth strategies.
