AMC Networks is laying off nearly 100 workers as part of a company-wide reorganization, TheWrap has learned.
CEO Josh Sapan announced the cuts, which will affect 10% of AMC Networks’ U.S. staffers, during an employee town hall Wednesday. Sapan said the restructuring is meant to streamline linear network operations with streaming, one of AMC Networks’ areas with the greatest potential for growth at this time.
The layoffs will affect several departments across the company — not including the Los Angeles-based programming team — with cut staffers set to exit by the end of the year. Details about the new company structure were not provided.
AMC’s national networks include AMC, WE tv, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. Its subscriber-video-on-demand services include AMC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now and UMC.
When AMC Networks released its third-quarter earnings results earlier this month, Sapan put a strong focus on streaming, saying in a statement, “With the addition of our new AMC+ premium SVOD offering, we expect to have 5 to 5.5 million total SVOD subscribers, in aggregate, by the end of the year.”
Later, during the company’s Q3 call with investors and analysts, COO Ed Carroll defended the $8.99 subscription price for the AMC+ streaming bundle, formerly AMC Premiere, saying the service attracts the “comic-con crowd.”
The cuts at AMC Networks come following Sarah Barnett’s exit as president of AMC Networks Entertainment Group over the summer and a few weeks after Marc Juris, president and general manager of WE tv, announced he would be stepping down at the end of the year.
AMC Networks is the latest media company to institute layoffs and restructure operations amid the pandemic, with ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia having recently made deep cuts and reorganizations.
A representative for AMC Networks did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Deadline first reported the news of the layoffs.