Bloomberg cuts employees in media distribution unit

Bloomberg Media has laid off close to a dozen employees in its media distribution unit, which cuts distribution deals for video, photo, text, data and other content from the business news giant, reports Sahil Patel of Digiday.

Patel writes, “According to three sources with direct knowledge of the unit’s business, Bloomberg Media has laid off at least 11 employees from its Bloomberg Media Distribution division. Before the layoffs, BMD had about 50 employees in the U.S., London, Hong Kong and Singapore, though some of them had other responsibilities outside of BMD, one of the sources estimated. Overall, the BMD division is profitable and generates close to $50 million in annual revenue, two sources said. Revenue was also growing 12 to 15 percent annually over the past five years, one of those two people added.

“‘We recently made some changes in our organization to bring media distribution and digital together under one group, directing our resources towards digital and other areas of growth,’ said a Bloomberg Media spokesperson.

“BMD licenses Bloomberg Media content — everything from its linear TV network to original video series, articles, photos and data — to syndication partners in more than 130 countries. The division also had deals with other publishers, including The Economist, The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, to license their content to broadcast and publishing clients globally.”

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