AMC Networks said it plans to lay off about 20 percent of its U.S. workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company announced that its CEO, who has been in office for less than three months, has stepped down.
AMC Networks said in a statement, “We have identified an immediate need to conserve resources, which will involve downsizing our business, which unfortunately includes massive layoffs affecting approximately 20 percent of our U.S. workforce.”
As U.S. subscribers cancel their pay-TV packages, AMC is struggling to make enough money from its streaming services to make up for the continued decline in its cable business, which has created many episodes of TV series over the past 15 years, including “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.
In addition, AMC Chairman James Dolan said in a notice sent to employees that the company originally thought that the loss caused by subscribers canceling cable service would be offset by streaming revenue, but that was not the case.
