NBCU Starts Layoffs; WarnerMedia Said To Be Next

• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, August 5, 2020

Reflecting the pandemic’s impacts on all media and entertainment companies, NBCUniversal has begun a round of layoffs.

The layoffs will affect less than 10% of NBCU’s total workforce of 35,000, but will span all of its holdings, including its sports and cable channels, broadcast networks, movie studio and theme parks, informed sources told The Wall Street Journal. 

Parent company Comcast reported that NBCU’s revenue dropped by 25.4% in the second quarter, despite 9% growth in its retransmission/distribution revenue. 

During the quarterly earnings call, NBCU CEO Jeff Shell confirmed that his unit is finalizing a new structure. The structure will reportedly reflect the increasing importance of streaming and seek to streamline operations by centralizing content production across its units. 

WarnerMedia is also expected to begin a round of layoffs, possibly starting as early as next week, reports WSJ, which does not mention any response from either company to the layoff reports.