NBCU To Cut 500 Jobs, Layoffs Begin at NBC News Bureaus

Breaking: TVNewser has learned NBC Universal will be cutting up to 500 jobs in a round of layoffs which are now underway at all levels of the company — television, film and parks. That amounts to about 3% of the workforce. An insider with knowledge of the situation says the cuts are expected to continue into next week.

The NBC News bureaus in Dallas and Los Angeles (Burbank) are already experiencing cuts, with the insider saying Dallas will experience more layoffs than in Burbank. Among those losing their jobs, NBC News correspondent Don Teague who has been with the network since 2002.

This is all part of an effort to cut $500 million from the NBCU budget announced by company president Jeff Zucker in October.

Last month, TVNewser reported the network was offering buyouts to “virtually everyone.” If enough employees did not accept the offer, layoffs were to be the next step.

…Developing…

> Update: Los Angeles correspondents John Larson, who reported for many years for Dateline and Mark Mullen, who just returned to Burbank after a nearly two-year reporting run for NBC in Beijing, are among the cuts. As many as seven people in Burbank have been let go, including Heather Allan who’s been with NBC more than 30 years. Allan was the bureau chief for NBC News special events which involved coordinating Olympics coverage for the news division.

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