Mar 29, 2024
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Front Page, Industry News

Viacom cuts 7% of work force

NEW YORK — The ax continues to swing in the entertainment industry amid a recession, with Viacom unveiling 850 layoffs Thursday morning across its operations.

The company also said it will suspend senior level management salary increases for 2009 and take writedowns on programming and other assets, whose value has declined. It didn’t immediately provide details on the writedowns.

Viacom said the restructuring is designed “to better align its organization and overall cost structure with evolving economic conditions.”

The 850 jobs affected amount to 7% of the company’s work force.

Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman said the moves come with an eye on strengthening Viacom for the longer term.

“We are moving rapidly to adapt to the challenges presented by the current economic environment,” he said. “The changes we are making in our organization and processes will better position Viacom to navigate the economic slowdown and generate sizable efficiencies that will help us to drive our business as the marketplace stabilizes and conditions improve.” 

The restructuring and write-downs will result in a pretax charge against earnings of $400 million-$450 million, or 42 cents to 48 cents per share, in the current fourth quarter. They will lead to pretax savings of $200 million-$250 million in 2009.

Memos to staff are on the next page.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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Front Page, Industry News

Viacom cuts 7% of work force

NEW YORK — The ax continues to swing in the entertainment industry amid a recession, with Viacom unveiling 850 layoffs Thursday morning across its operations.

The company also said it will suspend senior level management salary increases for 2009 and take writedowns on programming and other assets, whose value has declined. It didn’t immediately provide details on the writedowns.

Viacom said the restructuring is designed “to better align its organization and overall cost structure with evolving economic conditions.”

The 850 jobs affected amount to 7% of the company’s work force.

Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman said the moves come with an eye on strengthening Viacom for the longer term.

“We are moving rapidly to adapt to the challenges presented by the current economic environment,” he said. “The changes we are making in our organization and processes will better position Viacom to navigate the economic slowdown and generate sizable efficiencies that will help us to drive our business as the marketplace stabilizes and conditions improve.” 

The restructuring and write-downs will result in a pretax charge against earnings of $400 million-$450 million, or 42 cents to 48 cents per share, in the current fourth quarter. They will lead to pretax savings of $200 million-$250 million in 2009.

Memos to staff are on the next page.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Front Page, Industry News

Viacom cuts 7% of work force

NEW YORK — The ax continues to swing in the entertainment industry amid a recession, with Viacom unveiling 850 layoffs Thursday morning across its operations.

The company also said it will suspend senior level management salary increases for 2009 and take writedowns on programming and other assets, whose value has declined. It didn’t immediately provide details on the writedowns.

Viacom said the restructuring is designed “to better align its organization and overall cost structure with evolving economic conditions.”

The 850 jobs affected amount to 7% of the company’s work force.

Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman said the moves come with an eye on strengthening Viacom for the longer term.

“We are moving rapidly to adapt to the challenges presented by the current economic environment,” he said. “The changes we are making in our organization and processes will better position Viacom to navigate the economic slowdown and generate sizable efficiencies that will help us to drive our business as the marketplace stabilizes and conditions improve.” 

The restructuring and write-downs will result in a pretax charge against earnings of $400 million-$450 million, or 42 cents to 48 cents per share, in the current fourth quarter. They will lead to pretax savings of $200 million-$250 million in 2009.

Memos to staff are on the next page.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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