Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the largest station groups in the country, is cutting about 5% of the workforce, job reductions that the company said was due to decline in revenue from the Covid-19 pandemic.
A spokesperson for Sinclair said in a statement, “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt across all sectors of the economy, something that can have a profound impact on a company as diversified as ours. From local businesses and advertisers to distributors and partners, no component of our business’s ecosystem has been fully shielded from the impact of the global pandemic. In response to this, we are currently undergoing enterprise-wide reductions across our workforce, including corporate headquarters, to ensure we are well-positioned for future success.”
The company has 9,211 employees, a spokesperson said. Based on the 5% figure, that would mean the impact would affect roughly 460 employees, although it was unclear how many of the job reductions were through layoffs or cuts to unfilled positions.
The company owns or operates 190 TV stations along with 23 regional sports networks. In an earnings call last week, president and CEO Chris Ripley said that the “media industry and Sinclair faced and continue to face many disruptions in core advertising, distribution revenues and live sporting events. However, built-in hedges to shorten professional sports seasons as well as record political revenues helped to offset some of the declines brought about by the pandemic.”
More to come.
