Layoffs hit NBC News on Wednesday, with the network news division facing cuts ahead of Comcast’s spinoff of Versant. About 150 jobs were eliminated, representing about 2 percent of the workforce of the NBC News Group.
The cuts were across the News Group, without specific teams being targeted.
The Versant spin will see MSNBC and CNBC separated from NBC News. NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC are currently all part of the NBC News Group, led by Cesar Conde.
Per a source, the cuts were driven by the fact that NBC News will no longer be providing newsgathering capabilities for CNBC and MSNBC, as well as broader concerns around the overall economic environment for the media sector.
That said, NBC News is shifting resources to other areas, including the forthcoming subscription offering, and new areas of coverage like sports. The division currently has about 140 open job postings, and impacted staff are being encouraged to apply for those roles.
“Coming off the successful creation of our new daily podcast Here’s the Scoop, we are preparing to launch our NBC News subscription service later this year that will feature the best of our coverage and include new premium offerings,” Conde wrote in a note to staff last week. “NBC News is expanding its new Sports Hub, in partnership with NBC Sports, with the NBA returning to NBC, as well as the Milan Olympics, the Super Bowl, and the World Cup on Telemundo. And to support the leading position of NBC News, we will be launching a marketing campaign soon that will reinforce our reputation for rigorous fact-based reporting that is indispensable and accessible across all platforms for all, the first such campaign in modern memory.”
NBC News employees impacted by the cuts are being given 60 days’ notice, as well as a severance package and outplacement services.
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