Latest at Oprah's Struggling Network: 20% of Staff Gone

Move will cut head count by 30 people
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 20, 2012 12:01 AM CDT
Updated Mar 20, 2012 1:30 AM CDT
Oprah Shakes Up Struggling Network
Oprah Winfrey speaks at a network event in New York.   (AP Photo/OWN, George Burns)

This week on Oprah: dealing with unemployment. The Oprah Winfrey Network is laying off a fifth of its workers as part of a major restructuring at the cable network, which has struggled for ratings since its launch last year, AP reports. "It is difficult to make tough business decisions that affect people's lives, but the economics of a start-up cable network just don't work with the cost structure that was in place," Winfrey said in a statement.

The move will cut the network's head count by some 30 people, saving it $20 million over the next two years, an insider tells the Wall Street Journal. That comes on top of savings of close to $25 million made by canceling Rosie O'Donnell's talk show a few days ago. Executives from Discovery Communications, which co-owns the channel with Winfrey, will be taking a more active role in the channel after the restructuring. (More Oprah Winfrey stories.)

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