No exact numbers were available, but the layoffs total about 3.5% of the staff, a source told The Wrap. The layoffs came this week and are effective immediately. The layoffs were “an unfortunate byproduct of streamlining the business,” the source said.
“The reorganization came after a successful upfront sales season for NBC, in which it bucked the broadcast trend by booking $2.1 billion in advertising sales, up from $1.8 billion last year,” said the story. “But NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said in September that NBC is ‘is significantly behind’ its rivals in profitability and needs higher ratings and more ad sales. He said at a conference that ABC, CBS and Fox all make about $500 million to $1 billion more than NBC does annually, in part because NBC charges 20 percent less than CBS and Fox do for advertising due to lower ratings.”
