‘Entertainment Tonight’ lets go of a substantial part of its online editorial staff, Variety has learned. As part of the shift to video, about 17 employees are expected to be affected by the layoffs, which will take effect in September when the long-running syndicated entertainment news strip begins its new season.
“’ET’ has long been a video-first business, and we’re doubling down on that success as we expand our 44e season this fall,” a spokesperson said Variety in a statement. “We are transforming ETonline.com to deliver more breaking news videos and original interviews and streamlining our newsgathering process to better reach our audiences across ET’s multiple platforms.”
Insiders stressed that this is not a sign that ETonline.com is shutting down and that no existing content will be removed from the website. But the news comes shortly after parent company Paramount Global halted active reporting and eliminated archives on websites including MTV and Comedy Central.
The layoffs, which primarily affect the digital sector and not the linear TV show “Entertainment Tonight,” won’t take effect until September 7, meaning current staffing levels for Season 43 will remain unchanged. New positions are expected to be added for next season, and employees laid off by this wave of layoffs will be eligible to apply for new positions.
The layoffs come a year after “Entertainment Tonight” also laid off less than 10% of its staff in 2023. With these cuts, which also affected a dozen employees, “Entertainment Tonight” made these changes in light of the reduction in digital programming.
On the boilerplate, “ET” touts itself as “the #1 entertainment news video on Facebook and YouTube” and says ETonline.com averages 26 million unique visits per month.
Produced and distributed by CBS Media Ventures, “Entertainment Tonight” is executive produced by Erin Johnson, with Whitney Wallace and Leslie Kawaguchi serving as co-executive producers.