ABC News hit with 75 layoffs as parent Disney cuts costs: ‘Tough decisions’

ABC News and its group of local stations were hit with 75 job cuts Wednesday as part of an ongoing restructuring at parent company Disney.

ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic broke the news to staff in a memo obtained by The Post, telling them the network had to make some “difficult decisions.”

“Across the ranks of ABC News, a limited number of our colleagues are being affected by staff reductions,” he said. “As you know, this has been happening across the wider company and the industry in general in recent weeks and months.”

The executive — who was promoted to the role of president in August after serving as executive producer of the top-rated World News Tonight with David Muir — said his job is to “build a team that embraces the new media landscape.” which “evolves with it.”

“As we look to the future and refine a team that is not only capable of excellence in reporting and delivering the highest quality content, but is also efficient and sustainable, from time to time we have to make some decisions difficult. Unfortunately, today is one of those days,” he wrote.

ABC News did not comment on the layoffs.

A source familiar with the situation confirmed that the layoffs affected 75 jobs at ABC News and the ABC group of stations, split equally.

The source added that no on-air talent has been affected in either division.

Programming will not be affected and no entire team will be eliminated, the person said, adding that the company is making the changes to be “stable, efficient and future-proof.”

“It’s no secret that our industry is going through a transformation unlike any other, and we’re seeing headlines every day about reorganization at every major media company,” Chad Matthews, president of ABC-owned television stations, wrote in the memo.

“Nothing will change our commitment to viewers as we develop our organization to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.”

Under CEO Bob Iger, Disney has been in the throes of cost-cutting and restructuring in recent months.

Last month, the company made cuts to its corporate structure and reorganized its TV studio group, with all of its scripted programming being folded into one division. The overhaul included the closure and folding of the ABC Signature studio at 20th Television.

In late July, The Post reported that ABC News’ Good Morning America staffers were preparing for layoffs amid calls to lower its bottom line before Disney’s fiscal year closes on Sept. 30.

In addition to the live cuts, sources said “GMA” and other network shows may deploy local reporters instead of sending national correspondents to cover events — an increasingly common practice at dime rivals such as CBS News.

ABC News was also likely to use a hiring freeze and not fill the open jobs listed, one of the sources said.

At the time of the report, layoffs hit Disney’s television group, cutting 140 jobs at its networks, including NatGeo and Freeform.

Earlier this year, Disney-owned animation studio Pixar cut about 175 jobs, and last year, Mouse House underwent a massive reorganization, cutting roughly 7,000 jobs.