|
NBC to pare work force
|
 |
January 12, 2001: 4:34 p.m. ET
Up to 560 workers to be laid off amid industry-wide ad revenue slowdown
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Broadcaster NBC plans to lay off up to 10 percent of its work force in a cost-cutting move, a network spokesperson said Friday.
The cuts are expected to affect between 280 and 560 of the company's work force of 5,600. The cuts will be carried out in the current first quarter, a network spokesperson, who declined to be identified, told CNNfn. Some cuts will be through attrition, the spokesperson said.
Like other broadcasters, General Electric's (GE: Research, Estimates) NBC has been suffering from declining advertising sales amid the softening U.S. economy. NBC is the home of top-ranked TV shows "ER" and "Friends."
"It is no secret that the current economic climate is affecting our business," NBC Chief Executive Bob Wright said in a company staff memo obtained by Reuters. "It is now clear that we must go beyond belt-tightening and take the additional step of reducing the size of our work force."
 The layoff plans were first reported earlier Friday in trade paper Daily Variety. The paper said the cuts would affect every division of the New York-based broadcaster.
Weakening ad sales are hurting many media companies. News Corp Ltd. (NWS: Research, Estimates), owner of the Fox network and film studio, last year instituted a hiring freeze and earlier this month announced plans to slash Fox's online operations.
Click here to check the performance of media stocks
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that cable news channel CNN was preparing to lay off a large number of its 4,000 employees. CNN parent company Time Warner Inc. closed its merger with America Online Inc (AOL: Research, Estimates) late Thursday.
General Electric shares slipped 88 cents to $45.69 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading. American depositary receipts of Sydney, Australia-based News Corp. edged up 69 cents to $38.88. AOL stock slipped 76 cents to $46.47 on the New York Stock Exchange. 
-- from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
|
General Electric
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
