Fox Entertainment is the latest media company to implement staff reductions, eliminating 30 positions Thursday. The cuts stem from the company’s realignment of content and business operations into three groups — the Fox Television Network, Fox Entertainment Studios and sales arm Fox Entertainment Global — which was announced in March .
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The layoffs involve employees across all three divisions, the first two headed by Michael Thorn (network) and Fernando Szew (studios). The search for a new head of worldwide content sales is ongoing, with Tony Vassiliadis leading the team in the interim.
Names are just starting to emerge, with SVP Corporate Communications Les Eisner notifying his press contacts this afternoon of his departure from the company.
“While there are many exciting aspects to realizing our path forward, one of the most difficult phases in any reorganization is recognizing where redundancies exist and how evolving priorities affect our team,” Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade said in a memo to staff today, addressing the layoffs (you can read it in full below). “This step was solely related to aligning our business operations, ambitious growth strategies and the dynamics of our industry today.”
The last remark is a reference to the rough times traditional media companies are going through right now amid a soft ad market — despite the influx of spending on political ads and live sports — as pay-TV continues to decline markedly and ad dollars are migrating to digital platforms. That has resulted into an industrywide wave of staffing cuts, most recently at Warner Bros Discovery earlier this week .
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Forecasts are generally brighter for the overall ad business, with PwC this week calling for global revenue by 2028 to double 2020 levels. However, the beneficiaries of the brand outlays are increasingly outside of the TV sector.
The Fox Entertainment layoffs come as most Fox Corp. divisions are having a moment: Fox just ranked as No. 1 in entertainment programming in adults 18-49 with new game shows The Quiz with Balls and The 1% Club ; Tubi’s TV share hit another high ; Fox News’ ratings have been boosted by election-year coverage; and Fox Sports is coming off record viewerships for Euro 2024 and Copa America.
Here is Wade’s note:
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Hi Team,
As we continue the transformative work of building Fox Entertainment for the future, I want to start by sincerely thanking every one of you for your support, dedication and unmatched creativity.
While there are many exciting aspects to realizing our path forward, one of the most difficult phases in any reorganization is recognizing where redundancies exist and how evolving priorities affect our team. Today, we informed some of our colleagues that their jobs were impacted by the restructuring process. Please know, these decisions were made with the utmost care and consideration and are in no way a reflection of anyone’s performance or contributions. This step was solely related to aligning our business operations, ambitious growth strategies and the dynamics of our industry today.
As we evolve the business to be more efficient and effective, we open the door to incredible opportunity with creativity as the enduring center of it all. In completing our restructuring, I’m confident that we have the team in place to achieve remarkable things, as we increasingly invest in original entertainment and solidify our position as a global studio and distributor.
In the coming weeks, we’ll schedule team conversations to discuss the business and what we believe is a promising, exciting future for all of us at Fox Entertainment. Until then, I’m grateful for your commitment and partnership.
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