The Walt Disney Company is laying off 175 employees at the Disney/ABC Television Group, which includes ABC, local stations and cable networks like the Disney Channel and ABC Family.
A source for Reuters said earlier Wednesday that the cuts will be focused in technical operations like broadcast engineering and other positions at eight ABC-owned local stations. The unit of the Disney media conglomerate has 7,600 employees.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, the company confirmed the layoffs, but not the number of people getting pink slips.
“As technological advances continue to alter the competitive landscape and viewer habits, it’s incumbent upon us to stay ahead of the curve,” the statement reads. “To that end, we’ve undergone a review of our organizational structures and processes, and have re-imagined and realigned certain areas and functions to gain efficiencies and better position us for future growth.”
Reuters’ source said that as ABC introduces new technology like the Watch ABC app, new jobs may open up.
This is just the latest round of layoffs at the Walt Disney Company as the company looks to cut costs. In early April, employees at the home video and marketing units were laid off, along with members of the animation department. Disney also cut the staff at LucasArts when it shuttered the Lucasfilm video game unit. In May, nearly 400 ESPN staffers lost their jobs.
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