Dozens of “surgical” cuts follow creation of new SpinCo and C-suite reshuffle.
NBCUniversal has begun a round of NBCUniversal layoffs 2025, trimming a few dozen positions across its TV and streaming arms in the wake of January’s sweeping corporate overhaul.
The reductions—described by insiders as targeted rather than company-wide—affect marketing, communications, and a handful of junior programming roles at NBC, Peacock, and the studio group.
Why the pink slips now?
In February the Comcast subsidiary revealed plans to spin off legacy cable brands E!, USA Network, Syfy, and Oxygen into a standalone entity dubbed SpinCo. Employees transferring to the new unit were notified earlier this week; the first wave of NBCUniversal layoffs 2025 clears overlapping jobs left behind.
Departments feeling the pain
- Marketing & Creative Services — consolidation across broadcast, cable, and Peacock
- Corporate Communications — duplicate PR roles tied to outgoing networks
- Entry-level Programming & Ops — junior staff once shared by multiple channels now redundant
Sources emphasize the company is not slashing green-light budgets. However, SpinCo’s content slate—now led by former NBCU acquisitions chief Val Boreland—will be lighter, focusing on reality hits like House of Villains, Snapped, and Syfy’s genre fare.
Big-picture context
The NBCUniversal layoffs 2025 follow January’s executive chessboard reset. Entertainment chair Donna Langley elevated:
- Pearlena Igbokwe to Chairman, Television Studios & Peacock Scripted
- Frances Berwick to Chairman, Bravo & Peacock Unscripted
That shuffle precipitated the exits of Peacock president Kelly Campbell and unscripted boss Corie Henson—early signals that another labor shake-out was coming.
Union and staff reaction
Staffers posting anonymously on industry forums say the timing—coming just as Los Angeles wrestles with its own production crisis—adds fresh anxiety. Still, insiders concede this round of NBCUniversal layoffs 2025 feels “surgical” compared with 2020’s pandemic-era cuts, which wiped out entire divisions.
What happens next?
The corporate offices are expected to finish notifications this week. SpinCo, meanwhile, continues building its org chart under Boreland, including a possible head of originals role. Analysts believe the leaner NBCUniversal will refocus on franchise growth at NBC, Peacock, and Bravo while letting SpinCo mine the cable brands’ long-tail value.
The takeaway
With legacy cable revenue in decline and streaming economics still tightening, the NBCUniversal layoffs 2025 underscore how even incremental restructures can ripple into head-count reductions.
For the moment, the studio insists the cuts are finished—until the next pivot demands another trim.
