Viacom to cut 7% of workforce; MTV division takes biggest hit

The deepest cuts came at Viacom's largest division -- MTV Networks, which includes cable channels MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1 and Comedy Central. About 100 jobs were cut at Viacom's Hollywood movie studio Paramount Pictures.

Viacom also said today that it would write down certain programming and other assets. The combined restructuring and write-down will result in a pretax charge of $400 million to $450 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. The staff cuts and compensation reductions are expected to result in pretax savings of $200 million to $250 million in 2009.

Viacom reported last month that its third-quarter profit fell 37%, largely because of declining advertising revenue and a drop in film revenue of more than 30% at Paramount.

"The changes we are making in our organization and processes will better position Viacom to navigate the economic slowdown and generate sizable efficiencies that will help us drive our business as the marketplace stabilizes and conditions improve," Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman said in a statement.

Viacom is the latest media company to get battered by the economic crisis and fall victim to steep declines in advertising and consumer spending.

NBC Universal is slashing staff and expenses as part of a plan to cut $500 million of its $16.7-billion annual budget; the company's Spanish-language TV unit, Telemundo, reduced its workforce by 5%. Lionsgate, Hollywood's biggest independent movie and TV studio, cut 8% of its workforce last month. And Walt Disney Co., which recently reported a 13% drop in earnings in its fiscal fourth quarter, is considering major belt-tightening moves across its divisions, including its Burbank studio, its ABC network, cable channels and theme parks.

Eller is a Times staff writer.

claudia.eller@latimes.com