ABC News and ABC Station Group were affected by layoffs Wednesday as part of an ongoing restructuring at Disney.
About 75 staffers at ABC News and ABC’s local television stations will be laid off, The Hollywood Reporter reported, with the layoffs to be split almost evenly between the national news organizations and stations group. Become. No programming will be affected and no entire team will be eliminated, but the company is making changes that are “sustainable, efficient and future-proof,” according to a person familiar with the decision.
ABC News President Armin Karamedovic and ABC station chief Chad Matthews announced the restructuring in a memo to teams Wednesday.
“As you know, things like this have been happening across our company and across our industry in recent weeks and months,” Karamedovic wrote. “For us, that means embracing the new media landscape and building a team that evolves with it, and we must do so in order to continue to serve our audiences.
“As we look to the future and strengthen our team to not only excel in reporting and delivering the highest quality content, but also to be efficient and sustainable, sometimes we have to make tough decisions. Hmm,” he writes. “Unfortunately, today is one of those days.”
Matthews writes: “It’s no secret that our industry is undergoing a transformation unlike any other, and we see headlines every day about streamlining across major media companies. Although we are not immune to the pressures of the current situation, we have made and will continue to make strategic decisions about the future of our organization.
“Local news is the lifeblood of every market, and we’re fortunate to have so many talented teams across the country who are as invested in their communities as you are,” he continued. Ta. “As we evolve our organization to meet current and future challenges, nothing will change our commitment to our audiences.”
Disney has been cutting jobs across the company in recent weeks in a new round of restructuring measures. This includes reductions in corporate structure and major changes to television studios in the last month, with all scripted programming folded into one division and ABC Signature Studios closed to replace the 20th built into the TV.
Earlier this year, Pixar cut about 175 jobs as it pivoted away from producing TV series, and last year Disney cut about 7,000 jobs after undergoing a major reorganization.
