NBC News, ad sales division facing cuts

By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - NBC News and NBC ad sales are among the latest victims of NBC Universal's previously announced layoffs and cost reductions.

About 30 layoffs in the ad sales department began earlier this week. Sources said more cuts had been made in the news division already and that more were likely to happen Thursday. The cuts, which are worldwide, are in addition to buyouts, attrition, early retirement and the decision to leave jobs unfilled. Offices affected included New York and Los Angeles. The notifications reportedly will finish sometime early next week.

It wasn't immediately clear whether those cuts or buyouts would involve on-air or key behind-the-scenes people. The total number couldn't be immediately determined, although it was believed to be much smaller than previous job losses.

NBC declined to comment.

These cuts follow an October directive by NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker to cut what amounts to $500 million in costs from the company's budget. NBC Universal is a subsidiary of General Electric. Its employees, particularly in the news division, were asked to consider buyouts. But after the buyouts didn't achieve the required level, the company has undertaken outright layoffs. At The Weather Channel, which was recently acquired by NBC Universal and private equity firm the Blackstone Group, more than 60 positions were cut recently.

It's not the first time that NBC Universal has cut back. Under the NBC 2.0 plan announced in October 2006, some 700 jobs were cut by 2007, and, among other things, MSNBC's headquarters in Secaucus, New Jersey, were shut and operations merged with NBC News headquarters in New York City.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter