15.10.2025 22:28

The anticipated layoffs at NBC News have materialized, impacting approximately 150 employees. This significant reduction in staff coincides with NBC's strategic maneuver to spin off its cable networks, MSNBC and CNBC, into a newly formed, publicly traded entity named Versant Media Group. While NBC News will continue to operate under the umbrella of Comcast's NBCUniversal division, the creation of Versant necessitates a streamlining of operations, leading to the elimination of numerous positions. This decision stems from the anticipated redundancy of shared infrastructure and newsgathering resources now that these functions will be managed separately within Versant.

These latest layoffs are not an isolated event, but rather a continuation of a series of more targeted workforce reductions that have occurred in recent weeks. For instance, a previous round of cuts affected several employees in NBC's graphics department, a resource previously shared by both NBC News and MSNBC. The current wave of job eliminations constitutes roughly 2% of the total NBCU News Group workforce and has been distributed across various departments within NBC News.

Intriguingly, not all affected NBC News employees will be exiting the company entirely. This is due to a notable number of open positions—140 in total—currently available within the news group. Furthermore, the company has confirmed that approximately a dozen of the eliminated roles are being redefined and will be filled as new positions. This organizational restructuring is occurring against the backdrop of a forthcoming marketing campaign, as announced by NBCU News Group chair Cesar Conde in a recent network memo. This campaign is designed to herald the dawn of a new era for the company, building on recent successes such as the launch of the daily podcast "Here's the Scoop."