Media and entertainment layoffs 2025: Disney and others are cutting staff, but job losses are lower so far this year

It’s not just the tech industry that is facing layoffs in 2025. In recent weeks, a number of high-profile media and entertainment companies have seen job cuts. The most recent media giant to reportedly undergo layoffs is the Walt Disney Company. Here’s what you need to know about the layoffs affecting the media industry right now.

ABC News and Disney Entertainment Networks cut jobs

The Walt Disney Company company is getting ready to let go of about 6% of its employees who work in the company’s ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks units, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The layoffs will total about 200 employees and will reportedly be announced today. The move is being made to save costs on what used to be more profitable divisions but now aren’t seen as important in the ongoing shift to streaming.

Fast Company reached out to Disney for comment.

As part of the move, ABC will reportedly merge 20/20 and Nightline into one unit, which will result in lost jobs. The news network is also reportedly shutting down the news site 538, which currently employs about 15 people.

As for the Disney Entertainment Networks unit, WSJ says its scheduling and program planning units will see job cuts.

E.W. Scripps and Tegna lays off employees

American broadcaster E.W. Scripps will also reportedly lay off workers across its local TV stations, reports TheWrap. The company currently owns 61 stations across the country, and employees are said to have begun being notified about the job cuts yesterday.

It is unknown exactly how many employees E.W. Scripps will be laying off, but the company is said to employ about 5,200 workers.

“We can confirm there were some position eliminations across about a dozen Scripps stations,” an E.W. Scripps spokesperson told Fast Company when reached for comment. “The media industry is in a state of continued disruption and, while difficult, these changes are part of Scripps’ ongoing commitment to adapt through this disruption and ensure we can continue providing our communities with essential services well into the future.”

The reported E.W. Scripps layoffs come after another American broadcast company, Tegna Inc., which owns numerous NBC-affiliated stations, laid off its its VERIFY fact-checking team. As AdWeek reported, Tegna’s fact-checking team included about 20 journalists and producers.

Jobs disappear at WSJ and LA Times, too

It’s not just broadcast jobs that are going in the media industry. Jobs at print media giants have also been lost in recent days, too.

The Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker sent a memo (via TalkingBizNews) to employees on Tuesday that the paper would be creating a new Technology & Media group based in New York to oversee its tech coverage. However, Tucker said the “changes do mean that some reporters and editors in San Francisco and New York will be leaving us.” Tucker did not say how many jobs would be lost.

The Los Angeles Times will also see some journalists departing—but this is not due to layoffs. As noted by TheWrap, the newspaper’s owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, has made buyout offers to over 40 newsroom staff. The buyout offer comes amid recent drama at the paper, including the pulling of the publication’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris late last year.

Silver lining: January job losses lower than a year earlier

According to data from consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the media industry—which includes television, film, streaming, and news—lost 624 jobs in January. That was a jump of 27% over the 490 jobs the industry lost in December 2024.

However, January 2025’s job losses of 624 media jobs were down 41% from the 836 media jobs lost in January 2024.

When it comes to just the news segment of the media industry—which includes digital, broadcast, and print—Challenger, Gray & Christmas says 192 layoffs occurred in January 2025, down 64% from the 528 cuts in January 2024.

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