Several top ABC News veterans have agreed to take buyouts and will be leaving the network as Disney continues to try and cut costs.
The exit of the veteran staffers has caused some at the news outlet to worry about “brain drain,” as the exit leaves far less experienced employees to take their place, according to the New York Post.
The buyout offers to top executives and long-time employees came along with a wave of layoffs in July, including the end of the road for 150 Pixar employees.
Year over year, Disney’s stock is down 24 percent as losses continue to mount for the House of Mouse.
It was also announced last month that despite three rounds of layoffs over the last year, more are to come.
“Disney is planning a restructuring of its television operation that’s expected to result in hundreds of layoffs and the consolidation of divisions, according to people familiar with the matter,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “A primary goal for the TV reorganization is to structure the business in a way that makes sense for streaming customers, rather than … linear [i.e., broadcast and cable] television.”
ABC has seen a massive loss of viewers and only averaged 4,040,000 for its primetime, Live+7 viewership in 2025.
Those who accepted ABC’s buyout deal included vice president of talent strategy and development Audrey Taylor, director of news practices Nicole Gallagher, director of weather operations and graphics Tamar Gargle, and director of broadcast engineering Lachlan Murdoch MacNeil.
Still, the Post added that only 20 top execs accept a buyout deal.
“By offering a voluntary retirement program, we hope to give eligible employees an opportunity to make a personal decision on their own terms before broader organizational decisions are finalized,” Sonia Coleman, Disney’s chief people officer, said of the offer.
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