Disney cuts back online staff
The company undergoes another round of layoffs in an effort to cut costs amid an anemic advertising market and a declining economy.
Overall, about 125 employees were laid off in the division. Of those, 25 came from ABCNews.com and the rest from WDIG, according to one source close to the companies. Disney confirmed that it has restructured, but declined to say how many employees were laid off.
"ABCNews.com has realized efficiencies from better integration with the ABC News television group," ABCNews.com spokeswoman Lauren Kapp said Tuesday. "There will be no changes in the quality and comprehensiveness of the site going forward."
WDIG runs Disney.com and oversees technology resources. The division was once a publicly traded company that ran Disney's failed Web portal, Go.com, and the entertainment giant's many Web sites.
Disney also officially shut down MrShowbiz.com, a step it had announced previously. "Your entertainment needs can be met on ABCNews.com," the company said in a note on the site's home page Tuesday.
"We restructured our technology organizations to be more appropriately aligned where our businesses are aligned and where we see them heading," said Kim Kerscher, a WDIG spokeswoman.
Since Disney laid off Go.com's entire staff in January, the company has pulled the Web divisions of its most popular media brands, such as ABC and ESPN, back under their respective TV parents. As a result, Disney's Web efforts have become offshoots of traditional businesses rather than standalone units.
The layoffs come just weeks after ABC.com announced massive layoffs that weeded out roughly 85 percent of the staff.