Christina Spade attends The Hollywood Reporter, SAG-AFTRA and Heineken Celebrate Emmy Award Contenders at Annual Nominees Night on September 10, 2022 in West Hollywood, California.
Michael Kovac | The Hollywood Reporter | Getty Images
AMC Networks informed its workers Tuesday that it’s planning important layoffs, in keeping with a memo obtained by CNBC and folks acquainted with the matter.
The memo, despatched by AMC Networks Chairman James Dolan, got here shortly after the corporate introduced that CEO Christina Spade stepped down from her function lower than three months after being promoted to the place.
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Spade’s departure and the layoffs come as AMC and the Dolan household cope with one of the simplest ways to maneuver the corporate ahead because it offers with cord-cutting and a toughening advert market, mentioned folks acquainted with the matter. The firm is probably going an inside candidate for CEO, they added.
“It was our perception that twine chopping losses could be offset by beneficial properties in streaming,” Dolan mentioned within the memo. “This has not been the case. We are primarily a content material firm and the mechanisms for the monetization of content material are in disarray.”
AMC Networks derives greater than half of its income from the linear TV bundle, which has been bleeding prospects as they go for streaming providers. Quarterly income had fallen 16% to $682 million within the interval ended Sept. 30.
An organization spokeswoman declined to offer additional particulars. AMC Networks shares had been down greater than 5% Tuesday. The firm had greater than 1,700 full-time workers and 287 part-time workers as of Dec. 31.
AMC mentioned in an announcement that its board is finalizing its choice for Spade’s alternative.
“We thank Christina for her contributions to the corporate in her CEO function and her earlier CFO function, and we want her nicely in her future endeavors,” Dolan mentioned within the assertion. AMC Networks is managed by Dolan and his household, which additionally owns Madison Square Garden Entertainment.
Spade joined AMC Networks in 2021 as chief monetary officer and some months later was promoted to the twin function of chief working officer and CFO. In August, lower than a yr later, the corporate introduced she would take over as CEO.
The firm, whose properties embrace its namesake cable community IFC, mentioned in a regulatory submitting Tuesday that Spade will obtain her severance fee in accordance together with her Aug. 4 employment settlement, which mentioned she’d be eligible for it if terminated with out “trigger” or if she resigned for “good purpose.”
Spade, an trade veteran who beforehand held high positions at ViacomCBS, CBS Corp. and Showtime, changed interim CEO Matt Blank at AMC Networks.
Blank, the previous chairman of Showtime, had taken over in 2021 after Josh Sapan left the corporate following a 26-year run that noticed the community rework right into a hitmaker with sequence equivalent to “Mad Men” and “The Walking Dead.” AMC Networks lately introduced additional spinoffs of the unique “The Walking Dead” sequence after it ended its run this fall, and has been releasing new reveals based mostly on late horror author Anne Rice’s novels.
In current years, AMC Networks has been seen as an acquisition goal for bigger media firms. In addition to its profitable run of TV reveals, it has area of interest streaming providers equivalent to AMC+ and the horror-focused Shudder.
The firm mentioned its paid streaming subscribers grew 44% from the prior yr to 11.1 million as of Sept. 30.
AMC has additionally been eyed by NBCUniversal’s Peacock, which has approached numerous smaller streaming providers about bundling their content material, CNBC beforehand reported.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that layoffs would happen.
Read Dolan’s memo under:
AMC Networks Community:
As I’m positive you’re conscious our trade has been beneath stress from rising subscriber losses. This is primarily as a result of “twine chopping.” At the identical time we have now seen the rise of direct to shopper streaming apps together with our personal AMC+. It was our perception that twine chopping losses could be offset by beneficial properties in streaming. This has not been the case. We are primarily a content material firm and the mechanisms for the monetization of content material are in disarray.
It is for that purpose that myself and the Board of Directors of AMC Networks have concluded that we as an organization have to preserve our assets presently. We have directed the manager management of AMC Networks to bear important cutbacks in operations. These will embrace a large-scale layoff in addition to cuts to each working space of AMC Networks. We in fact understand that this can trigger important concern and nervousness for our workers and those that depend on AMC Networks for his or her livelihood. We don’t take this flippantly. We will take each step attainable to reduce the affect of those actions on our group. However, it’s crucial that we start instantly with this new plan of action.
The Dolan Family and the Board of AMC Networks have nice satisfaction within the firm and merchandise that you’ve created. This is a complicated and unsure time in our trade. We are assured that AMC Networks will come by this even stronger. Your govt management will observe up with particulars shortly. We want solely the very best for everybody within the AMC Networks group.
Sincerely,
James Dolan
Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is CNBC’s mum or dad firm.