Disney plans a new round of job cuts in its television operation

Walt Disney Co is planning a fresh round of job cuts in its TV division, part of an effort to reduce costs in a shrinking part of its business, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The company is eliminating about 140 jobs, or about 2 per cent of staff at Disney Entertainment Television, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing non-public information. The cuts will fall hardest on networks like NatGeo and Freeform, which are scaling back their programming, as well as the company’s ABC stations. 

Chief executive Bob Iger has cut billions of dollars in costs at Disney and eliminated over 8,000 positions since returning to the top job there in November 2022. The company is trying to balance the need for investments in streaming with the rapid decline of its cable networks, which still generate billions of dollars in profit.

As part of the cuts, NatGeo will lose about 13 per cent of its staff, the people said. The network, named after the iconic magazine, has already pared back its scripted programming to a handful of shows such as Genius: MLK/X.

Freeform, formerly known as ABC Family, has historically programmed shows like Grown-ish and Pretty Little Liars for a teen audience. But teens have largely abandoned cable for streaming. 

Disney is also eliminating jobs in its marketing and publicity teams.

Disney’s entertainment-oriented TV networks contributed about 12 per cent of total revenue in the most recently reported second quarter, a sum that doesn’t include sports operations like ESPN.

The company reports fiscal third-quarter results next week. BLOOMBERG