NBCU to cut about 50 jobs in its ad unit

NBC Universal is laying off around 50 people in its advertising division on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the situation. The cuts will impact all areas of the advertising unit led by Linda Yaccarino, NBCU's chairman of advertising and client partnerships, including planning, direct response, research, marketing and sales. "From time to time, we look across the business to ensure we're best positioned to stay competitive in this rapidly changing marketplace. As a result, there will be some staffing changes within our advertising division," a company spokesperson said in an email. "NBC Universal is going through an effort to right-size its business and allocate resources to future growth areas such as new developments in advanced advertising, automation and technology systems." This comes just weeks after Yaccarino announced a reorganization of her ad sales team, elevating Laura Molen and Mark Marshall to the new role of president of advertising and partnerships. In the joint role, Molen and Marshall will assume oversight of the day-to-day sales operations, leaving Yaccarino to focus more on overall strategy and technology development. As part of these changes, Mike Rosen, who had been leading NBCU's advanced advertising efforts, departed the company, along with Scott Schiller, exec VP and general manager of marketing. This is the latest round of layoffs in the advertising and client partnerships division as it looks to grow areas like advanced advertising and automation. Earlier this year, the peacock eliminated about 30 jobs in the unit. Rivals like Turner have made similar moves, eliminating about three dozen jobs in February of this year.

NBCU to cut about 50 jobs in its ad unit

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