Disney lays off 140 employees in television division amid cost-cutting efforts

The cuts will impact National Geographic, locally owned TV stations, Freeform, and marketing and publicity teams.

Disney faced layoffs on Wednesday, resulting in approximately 140 employees, or 2% of its workforce, being let go from the television division.

Although no entire teams are being disbanded, the cuts will mainly impact National Geographic, locally owned TV stations, Freeform, and the network's marketing and publicity departments.

National Geographic will experience the most significant staff reduction, with 60 employees, or about 13% of its team, being laid off. Disney acquired this brand, known for its focus on nature and history, as part of the $71 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox in 2019.

Disney’s CEO Bob Iger announced earlier this year plans to “pretty dramatically” reduce spending on pay-TV content, especially content targeting traditional networks, after having invested excessively in streaming. Some of Disney’s major TV shows include FX’s "Shōgun" and "The Bear" and ABC’s "Grey’s Anatomy" and "Abbott Elementary." In efforts to save money, Iger stated in May that the company is aggregating a larger audience and amortizing costs by quickly making new network TV episodes available on digital platforms like Hulu. "It’s working," he added. “What we’re getting is unduplicated audiences.”

Disney has implemented several rounds of layoffs as part of its leadership's $7.5 billion cost reduction plan. In May, Pixar Animation, a division of Disney’s film group, reduced its workforce by approximately 175 employees, or 14%, as part of these cost-cutting efforts. The cuts were driven by mandates to scale back direct-to-consumer series in favor of feature films. In 2023, the media giant reduced its global headcount by 3.6% from a total of about 220,000 employees to try to lower costs.