Disney To Restructure TV Business

Walt Disney is planning a restructuring of its television business that is expected to result in hundreds of layoffs and the consolidation of long-standing divisions, as the company reorganizes around streaming customers rather than brands built for linear TV, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The plan, led by Disney Entertainment Television Chairman Debra O’Connell, is still being worked out by senior executives and may not be finalized before the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the Journal. It is the latest reorganization since former parks chief Josh D’Amaro became chief executive in March, part of a broader effort to streamline a company he has described as a sprawling operation of separate fiefdoms.

A primary goal is to structure television around how streaming customers consume content, rather than around networks and production labels created decades ago for broadcast and cable. The overhaul is expected to affect executives who run units including ABC Entertainment, 20th Television, Hulu Originals and Freeform. Further reductions are also expected at ABC News, which reports to O’Connell, people close to that business told the Journal.

Dana Walden

Disney President and Chief Creative Officer Dana Walden, speaking Thursday at a Bloomberg conference, said the company is taking divisions that have been run separately and “centralizing as a television business, not a bunch of silos.” She described the cuts across Hollywood as painful but necessary for survival as technology reshapes the industry.

The planned television changes come on top of other reductions already under way. On Tuesday, Disney laid off more than 300 employees, mostly in human resources and information technology. Earlier this year the company cut about 1,000 roles in April, largely in a newly unified marketing organization, and several hundred more in July across corporate functions, Pixar, National Geographic, ESPN and parts of the studios and television business. Additional cuts are in the works at the legal and global affairs unit, which has about 1,000 employees.

D’Amaro and Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston have told shareholders the company is focused on reducing labor and other costs to free money for growth investments. Media companies across the industry have been cutting staff as cord-cutting erodes cable and broadcast profits faster than streaming has replaced them. Disney has said its entertainment segment already generates more revenue from streaming than from linear television.