Online operations take brunt of MTV cuts

Sylvia Westall,, brandrepublic.com, Tuesday, 30 October 2001, 11:16am,

LONDON - MTV Networks, Viacom's music television group, is to cut 450 jobs, with most of the losses coming from its internet operations, as the group restructures in response to the downturn in the advertising market.

MTV's internet division will be merged with its core TV operation and international operations will begin to hire more local employees.

MTV insists that the restructuring had been planned before the September 11 terrorist attacks because of the slump in the ad market, but no date had been decided on.

In a memo distributed to staff on Monday, Tom Freston, chairman and CEO of MTV Networks, warned that areas such as affiliate sales, marketing, production and international operations would be affected. It will be the first significant restructuring programme in more than 10 years.

A large part of the reorganisation will centre on kid's channel Nickelodeon. MTV is planning to consolidate Nick at Nite and TV Land, the two Nickelodeon businesses. MTV Networks channels also include MTV, VH1 and TNN.

The news of the cuts comes less than a week after parent company Viacom announced third-quarter losses. Almost half of Viacom's revenue comes from advertising. At the end of last month, website MTVi cut 105 jobs, reducing its staff by 25%.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com