NEW YORK -- ABC job cuts are quietly beginning, with some employees taking advantage of the last buy-outs and some being moved into other posts.
With dwindling ratings and escalating costs, cuts have been expected as a result of the net's recent request that all divisions reduce budgets for the next fiscal year. Sources say East Coast layoffs are under way, while layoffs on the West Coast are imminent.
ABC officials declined to comment about specific cuts, but one top exec told Daily Variety that "there is certainly pressure to reconfigure job assignments," and that cuts were being made on both the news and entertainment sides of the net.
Daily Variety has learned that Jane Kaplan, senior entertainment producer for "Good Morning America," is leaving after more than a decade of service, with plans to start her own booking company. "Restructuring" is under way in the media relations department, with one manager's position being eliminated. Sources confirmed that the manager, Martin Blair, will be moving to a union publicist post at "20/20."
"Everyone is looking around to see what they can do," said another top exec, "but my sense is that most of the cuts will occur within network operations -- not on the corporate side."
Since the Disney/ABC merger, the exec said, "corporate operations have really been cut down to the bare minimum."
During its last round of cuts, roughly 140 employees found themselves out of work, but network honchos say the Alphabet net isn't looking at "anything near that this time," according to another top exec.
"We're looking to eliminate costs, but we've not been told to eliminate X number of heads."
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