BIG | Disney to layoff 7,000 employees after loosing IPL digital rights to Viacom18

The global layoff trend has finally arrived at Disney. The media mogul has recently announced that it will lay off a whopping 7,000 employees citing massive dip in subscriber base of Disney plus Hotstar. While the Disney has claimed that layoffs are to sustain growth and profitability, reports have hinted that losing the IPL live streaming rights to Viacom18 has hit Disney hard.

According to fresh reports, Disney has lost 1 per cent of its subscriber base in three months, especially after the IPL Media Rights were announced. The company earlier stated that the absence of IPL will lead to missing out on 15-25 million subscribers. At present, Disney plus Hotstar has a subscriber base of 161.8 million.

“It’s time for another transformation, one that rationalises the company’s enviable streaming business and puts it on a path to sustain growth and profitability. It is also to reduce expenses and improve margins and returns for better positioning of us to weather future disruption, increases competition and global economic challenges,” Iger said.

Notably, Iger stepped down as CEO in 2020 after nearly two decades of holding position at the helm. However, Iger was brough back at the top-position after board of directors ousted his successor, Bob Chapek.

“We are targeting $5.5 billion of cost savings across the company. First reductions to our non-content costs will total roughly $2.5 billion non adjusted for inflation. $1 billion in savings is already underway. But, in general savings will come from reduction in other operating costs across the company. To achieve our objective, we will be reducing our workforce by approximately 7,000 jobs,” Iger added.

Last year, Disney Star won the coveted IPL Indian sub-continent TV rights for a whopping Rs. 23, 575 crores while Viacom 18 grabbed the digital rights with a bid of Rs. 20,500 crores at the media rights auction.