MTV Networks to Cut 450 Jobs in Restructuring
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MTV Networks, owner of cable stations MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon, said Monday it would cut 450 jobs in a corporate-wide restructuring.
The layoffs take effect immediately and represent about 9% of the company’s worldwide work force, a spokeswoman said.
“These moves are being made in light of many changes in our company and our industry, and in view of the new economic times,” MTV Networks Chief Executive Tom Freston said in a memo. “This has been a very tough and painful decision for us to have made.”
The cuts stem from organizational changes at the Viacom Inc. unit. Among them: absorbing MTV’s online division, closing an office in New York, restructuring the Nickelodeon children’s cartoon network and management changes at VH1. MTV also will consolidate organizations for the TV programs “Nick at Nite” and “TV Land.”
Other entertainment companies this year, including Walt Disney Co. and Universal Studios also have cut jobs amid a deteriorating economy that has only grown worse since the Sept. 11 attacks.
MTV officials would not say how many layoffs would occur in Southern California. The music video pioneer is based in New York, with offices in Santa Monica, Burbank and Hollywood.
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