Walt Disney will begin laying off about 175 people in its Disney/ABC television group, about 2 per cent of the unit’s workforce, to adjust to changes in technology and viewing habits, a person familiar with the decision said.
The layoffs in the Disney/ABC Television Group, which does not include the ESPN cable sports operations, came after a company-wide review to explore cutbacks in jobs Disney no longer needs, either because of improvements in technology or redundancies following a string of major acquisitions in the past few years. Reuters first reported on the internal review in January.
The new layoffs will occur across the group, which includes the ABC broadcast network as well as the Disney and ABC Family cable channels, the source said. Most of the cuts will come in technical operations, such as broadcast engineering, and at eight Aowned stations across the United States.
An ABC statement did not confirm the numbers of job cuts but said the unit, which employs about 7,600 people, had reviewed its businesses and decided to restructure.
“As technological advances continue to alter the competitive landscape and viewer habits, it’s incumbent upon us to stay ahead of the curve,” an ABC spokesman said in the statement.
Other jobs may become available as Disney focuses on new technologies such as its Watch ABC app, which offers live streaming of the network’s programming on mobile devices, the source said.