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Disney-ABC TV Begins Layoffs, Restructuring
Variety ^ | 10/12/17 | Daniel Holloway

Posted on 10/12/2017 3:44:19 PM PDT by jeannineinsd

Disney/ABC Television Group has begun laying off employees, part of a long-anticipated restructuring and reallocation of resources at the Walt Disney Company’s non-sports broadcast and cable television arm.

A source tells Variety that the company began notifying affected employees Thursday morning. The volume of employees impacted is said to be significantly lower than the 10% workforce cut that had been speculated when news broke of the layoff plan six weeks ago.

Cuts are impacting all the group’s entertainment units, including ABC Entertainment ABC Studios, Disney Channel, DisneyXD, Disney Junior, and Freeform — but impact is expected to be minimal on production and programming. The majority of jobs being eliminated hail from non-content related or operational sectors.

The move is in part a cost-cutting measure, in part a reallocation of resources as the company shifts toward newer forms of content distribution and greater automation in some operational areas. The company is expected to be posting job opening for several new positions in the weeks ahead.

Disney’s TV businesses, including the ABC broadcast network face the same headwinds as other linear-television companies, as viewers migrate toward digital and on-demand viewing and cable subscriber levels creep downward. The layoffs billed as a way to address the challenges presented by those trends. A spokesperson for Disney/ABC Television Group declined to comment. Deadline originally reported that layoffs had begun.

In 2013, Disney implemented more than 150 staff cuts in the film marketing, home video and consumer products arena in a similar effort to reallocate resources from traditional job functions that had become less vital in the digital era. In 2010, ABC News shed some 400 jobs as the division was forced to come to grips with declining ratings and revenue.

These most recent cuts come at a time when competitors are plowing money into TV content. Netflix earlier this month poached ABC’s highest-profile producer, Shonda Rhimes, signing her to a multi-year deal, and ending her 15-year relationship with ABC Studios that yielded hits such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal.”

But ABC has boasted recent investments in talent and content — signing mega-producer Carlton Cuse to a four-year deal valued in its entirety in the low eight-figures, and recruiting singer Katy Perry to serve as a judge on “American Idol” for a fee of $25 million for one season.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abc; culturewars; disney; hollywood; homosexualagenda; layoffs; trashtv; winning
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To: jeannineinsd

They will fire Americans and hire foreigners.


21 posted on 10/12/2017 9:43:50 PM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: jeannineinsd

Guess going commie and lying to the people is not working out so well!


22 posted on 10/12/2017 11:25:54 PM PDT by knighthawk (We will always remember We will always be proud We will always be prepared so we may always be free)
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To: jeannineinsd
recruiting singer Katy Perry to serve as a judge on “American Idol” for a fee of $25 million for one season.

More like "Anti-American Idolatry."
23 posted on 10/12/2017 11:32:32 PM PDT by Rastus
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To: Pollard

Trumps Victory keeps on winning.


24 posted on 10/13/2017 2:02:34 AM PDT by x_plus_one ( I pray Gods eyes may once again gaze upon me and remind me that I am still His child.)
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To: Grampa Dave

>> If freepers are really serious about this issue

I’ve been raising this point for some time. Not much traction. Good luck.


25 posted on 10/13/2017 2:09:20 AM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: Gene Eric

A few have answered the call.

There is a fairly good size cable cutting group on FR.

We have gotten a good response re cable cutting from neighbors, friends and relatives.

As usual old habits and inertia are the biggest negative habits re cutting cables.

One of our younger relatives has a new college freshman and another kid at an expensive private high school. Their Comcast bill is now over $300/month. They bitch about not having enough money, and yet they have not cut their cable.


26 posted on 10/13/2017 5:57:56 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (Now, that Trump is kicking their asses, they, ______________, want to quit. (Fill in the blank!))
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To: jeannineinsd

This is the end result of an entertainment business choosing political sides.

To paraphrase Laura Ingraham:
Shut up and sing/dance/act/write/draw


27 posted on 10/13/2017 6:50:37 AM PDT by Personal Responsibility (We need a separation of press and state!)
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To: jeannineinsd

Tell us lies, we won’t buy.


28 posted on 10/13/2017 7:24:26 AM PDT by fwdude (The perverted left-bound train is always accusing the train station of "moving right.")
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To: jeannineinsd

"Social Conservatives Haven’t Paid Attention: 40% of Disney Staff was Gay in ’98"

http://www.gopusa.com/social-conservatives-havent-paid-attention-40-of-disney-staff-was-gay-in-98/

But but but.

Social issues don't win elections in Log-cabin land?

Good riddance.  It hasn't been Walt's Disney for a LONG time.

29 posted on 10/13/2017 11:29:08 AM PDT by HLPhat ("TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS" -- Government with any other purpose is not American.)
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To: Pollard

>>Winning!

Prediction:

The homosexual nepotist Caste members will use this as an opportunity to further purge opponents from the rat factory; and Eisner’s boasted percentage of homosexual employees will gravitate further towards 100%.


30 posted on 10/13/2017 11:31:56 AM PDT by HLPhat ("TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS" -- Government with any other purpose is not American.)
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