Disney television unit hit with 140 layoffs, including cuts at National Geographic
Walt Disney Co.’s television division is laying off about 2% of its workforce, or 140 people, as the Burbank media and entertainment giant continues a companywide cost-cutting plan.
The cuts at Disney Entertainment Television will primarily affect National Geographic, Freeform and locally owned TV stations, as well as marketing and publicity teams, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly.
National Geographic, in particular, will see a 13% cut. No teams are being eliminated, the person said. The famous brand became a part of Disney with the $71.3-billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox entertainment assets in 2019.
The layoffs come as Disney continues to cut costs in an attempt to save money and stem losses from its streaming business. Last year, Chief Executive Bob Iger said the company would lay off 7,000 people as part of a $5.5-billion cost-cutting plan.
Those targets eventually swelled to $7.5 billion in savings and 8,000 eliminated roles.
The company overextended itself during the streaming wars in an effort to compete with Netflix by building up Disney+ and Hulu.
Disney faced intense pressure from Wall Street in the form of activist investor Nelson Peltz, who demanded a realistic path to profitability from the streaming business and was seeking a board seat in order to influence company strategy.
Peltz ended up losing his proxy campaign in a resounding shareholder vote.
Peltz had criticized Disney and CEO Bob Iger for missteps and self-inflicted wounds, including the Fox acquisition and spending too much in streaming.
Disney’s TV operations are run by Dana Walden, the company’s entertainment co-chair, who joined as part of the Fox merger. Its key shows include FX’s “The Bear” and “Shogun,” Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” and ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and “9-1-1.” The company is coming off of a successful Emmy nominations run, with 183 nods for its programming.
FX was the second-most-nominated network behind Netflix, beating Emmy stalwart HBO/Max.
In May, Disney-owned computer animation studio Pixar laid off 14% of its staff, or 175 employees, as part of that effort. The cuts came as the studio planned to cut back on the number of streaming series it produces.
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