AMC Networks to Lay Off 20% of U.S. Workers

AMC Networks Inc. said it is planning to lay off about 20% of its U.S. employees, a sign of further disruption at a company that earlier Tuesday announced its chief executive had stepped down less than three months after taking the reins, reports The Wall Street Journal.

“We have determined we need to conserve resources at this time,” the entertainment company said Tuesday. “This will involve cutbacks in operations which unfortunately includes a large-scale layoff, impacting approximately 20% of our employees in the U.S.” AMC said it has about 1,000 U.S. employees.

The planned job cuts come as AMC, which for the past 15 years has been home to many popular TV shows including “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad,” is struggling to generate enough money from its streaming services to make up for the continued decline of cable television, as Americans cancel their pay-TV packages in droves.

James Dolan

“It was our belief that cord cutting losses would be offset by gains in streaming,” AMC Chairman James Dolan said in an earlier memo to employees, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “This has not been the case.”

Dolan said the board instructed AMC’s executive leadership to undergo significant cutbacks in operations.

Earlier Tuesday, AMC said CEO Christina Spade had stepped down. Ms. Spade, who the company said wasn’t terminated for cause, didn’t respond to a request for comment. The company said its board is finishing work to name a successor.

AMC Networks, whose brands include its namesake channel, as well as IFC, WE tv and Sundance TV, was among the many media companies that rode a wave of growth as cable TV was in its last lap of dominance in the media ecosystem. Its high-end, dark dramas—about zombies, ad executives in the 1960s, a high-school teacher turned meth kingpin—helped usher in an era of “prestige” TV.