AMC Puts Severance Costs at $20-25 Million

By Jon Lafayette
( Broadcasting & Cable )
last updated

Company cut 10% of employees

AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan
(Image credit: AMC Networks)

AMC Networks said that it expects to have severance costs of $20 million to $30 million during the fourth quarter as a result of reducing its staff by 10%, eliminating about 100 employees.

The company said the layoffs were part of a restructuring plan designed to streamline operations.

“The plan is intended to improve the organizational design of the company through the elimination of certain functional areas of the company,” AMC said in an SEC filing Thursday.

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CEO Josh Sapan addressed the layoffs during a virtual town hall on Wednesday.

Like others in the television industry, AMC is shifting its focus to its streaming services and consolidating its cable networks. Earlier this year, Sarah Barnett, president of the AMC Networks Entertainment Group left the company and last month WE tv general manager Marc Juris departed. Neither executive was replaced.

Eariler this month, AMC reported that third-quarter net income fell 47% to $62 million, with revenue dropping 9% to 954 million.  

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.