Significant Layoffs at NBCUniversal Under Examination

Comcast Corp. ’s NBCUniversal is reviewing operations across its portfolio of media and entertainment properties as part of a cost-cutting effort that could result in a significant reduction of staff, according to The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter.

NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Shell alluded to the review during Comcast’s earnings call Thursday. Asked how NBCUniversal was positioned to deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, Mr. Shell said,“On costs, the question about whether we’re right-sized on costs given where the environment is headed, the answer is probably no, and we’re addressing that pretty aggressively.”

Jeff Shell

NBCUniversal is the latest media company to take drastic steps as a result of economic fallout from the coronavirus which has halted production of movies and TV, shut down professional sports and caused advertisers to cut spending. Walt Disney Co. has furloughed theme-park workers and cut executive pay. Fox Corp. has also cut executive pay. ViacomCBS Inc. laid off close to 500 people this past week, people close to the situation said. Those cuts were attributed primarily to expense reductions stemming from last year’s merger of Viacom and CBS, ViacomCBS Chief Executive Bob Bakish said in an email to staff.

Although all divisions are being looked at, some areas likely to be under a microscope at NBCUniversal are the theme-parks division and Universal Pictures, both of which have been grounded as a result of the coronavirus.

The company has said Universal Studios’ theme parks would be closed at least through May 31, and its workers have been furloughed.

NBCUniversal, which had about 66,000 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, is one of Comcast’s most vulnerable businesses to the coronavirus pandemic. Comcast’s revenue remained stable in the first quarter because of its growing broadband business. However,On Thursday, the company reported NBCUniversal’s quarterlyfirst-quarter revenue fell 7% to $7.7 billion. compared with the same period last year. Although the broadcast television segment saw revenue grow 9%, overall NBCUniversal was dragged down by its films and theme parks.

Advertising revenue slightly decreased in the quarter, and is expected to be down significantly in the current quarter.