Walt Disney Co. launched another deep layoff, informing hundreds of Disney employees in the US and abroad that work is being eliminated in the increasingly challenging economic environment of traditional television.
The entertainment giant, based in Burbank, California, has seen cuts attacking film and television marketing teams, television promotion, casting and development, and corporate finance operations.
The move comes just three months after 200 workers, including ABC News in New York and Disney-owned Entertainment Network. At the time, the department said it had cut staff by 6% amid a shrinking television rating and revenue.
Disney refused to specify how many workers are losing their jobs. The cutback came after the fourth round of a layoff that was less than a year later — Disney’s CEO Bob Iger admitted to Wall Street that Disney had pumped too many shows and movies to compete with Netflix.
As the company prepares to launch Disney+ in late 2019, programming accumulation has accelerated and staff leaned over to handle a more robust pipeline.
However, the company has since recognized the need to focus on creating high-quality originals that meet once-high standards, and has since reduced.
Disney is facing major budgetary pressure after direct investors’ services Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ pledged to achieve profitability last year. The company lost billions of dollars over the years on its strategic shift to streaming, but reached its goal of making money from streaming last fall.
Still, streaming subscribers are whimsical and create a challenging new reality for companies that can long-term rely on cable TV subscriptions as one of the most reliable economic pillars. The cord cut was hit hard.
The entertainment giant, one of Southern California’s largest private sector employers, has eliminated more than 7,000 jobs since 2023.
Traditional TV and film units felt that they would bear the brunt of downsizing during the last year. In July, the company cut around 140 workers, mainly through Disney entertainment units. The company’s television station also lost staff, and ABC News broadcasted about 40 employees last October.
ABC News largely escaped this week’s cuts, according to knowledgeable people not allowed to discuss internal movements.
ABC News boasts healthy audiences for its newscast, but on ABC TV networks and Disney-owned entertainment channels, there is dramatic viewer exile asylum when consumers switch to streaming services like Netflix, Paramount+ and Disney+.
ABC’s prime time schedule has lost quite a bit of steam. During the broadcast television season of Jaiend, ABC has collected only three shows in Nielsen’s top 20 rankings. According to Nielsen, “Monday Night Football on ABC” averaged over 10 million viewers on average, while “Saturday Night Football” ranked 18th with a 7.4 million viewers and a freshman drama “High Potential” averaged 7.1 million viewers.
Three weeks after Disney presented its fall lineup to advertisers, Monday’s elimination is leaning heavily towards sports stars like Payton and Elli Manning, rather than entertainment programming actors.
ESPN has escaped x as sports units prepare for high stakes launch in the fall of its standalone ESPN streaming service, said the knowledgeable.
According to box office revenue, the move celebrates the $610 million worldwide winning results of the blockbuster box office “Lilo & Stitch” amid a strong run at Disney’s Film Studio.
A month ago, Disney issued strong fiscal second quarter revenues. The company reported revenue of $23.6 billion for the three months ended March 29, up 7% compared to the same period last year. Pre-tax profit totaled $3.1 billion, an increase of $2.4 billion from last year.
The deadline for the Hollywood trade site first reported the latest Disney cut news.
This landscape has become increasingly challenging for traditional businesses. Even tech companies like Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount Global, and even Amazon and Apple have fired workers.
In late May, Los Angeles’ NBCuniversal cut 54 jobs in Los Angeles. Six Flags Entertainment Corp. fired 140 workers.
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