• by David Goetzl , December 8, 2008

The distressing double-whammy about layoffs at two major media companies last week may not even be the end of the beginning, according to a new report from Barclays Capital. The firm said that cuts at ABC could be part of the next wave.

While parent Disney has made no announcements, "we believe the company is likely to downsize at its underperforming divisions, including the ABC network," the report said.

"Given the magnitude of layoffs being announced across corporate America over the past several weeks, we think further workforce reduction announcements should be expected from the other large-cap media companies," Barclays said.

Barclays' analyst Anthony DiClemente suggested that with the cratering ad market, media companies should make cuts in programming and production, or at least keep them flat. Bluntly, the report said: "The recession's handwriting is on the wall, and given the high levels of operating leverage at ad-supported businesses, cost-cutting must become more of a priority for not only media's ad-supported businesses, but also filmed entertainment divisions."

Viacom--parent of ad-supported MTV Networks and Paramount studio-- announced last Thursday that it would be trimming 7% of its workforce, covering multiple divisions. Along with other maneuvers, that should bring savings of up to $250 million next year, the company said.

Any cuts made in programming investment would mark a sharp division with what CEO Philippe Dauman had pledged during the summer.

Although his comments came in July before the economy worsened, the executive said that cost-cutting had begun and "there is more work to be done." But he was firm in saying that no cuts would be made in program development or production. Not altering the on-screen product was key, Dauman insisted.

NBC Universal is also cutting some 500 positions as part of a company-wide trimming in spending in 2009.