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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Obituaries Weather Archive Hot Topics Forum Photo Gallery Past Readers Polls Revels Etcetera Backpage O-Zone Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Online Games Movie Preview October 19, 2006 NBC cuts 700 jobs NEW YORK (AP) — NBC Universal said today it would cut 700 jobs and streamline its news operations as part an overhaul aimed at exploiting new forms of electronic distribution. NBC, a unit of General Electric Co., said it expects the revamp to save $750 million in operating expenses by 2008. The job cuts would represent about 5 percent of its work force. As part of the changes, NBC's long-struggling 24-hour cable news channel MSNBC will move its operations to NBC's headquarters in Manhattan's Rockefeller Center and also to another NBC facility in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. The changes don't represent a diminishing commitment to news, but just reflect how the industry is changing, Jeff Zucker, chief executive of NBC Universal's television group, said. "The growth in news is in different places — it's online, it's on wireless," he said. The company's TV station group will also create a consolidated news facility in Burbank, Calif. that will support NBC as well as its Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo. The expected savings follow three lackluster years at NBC Universal, where operating profit fell 10 percent in each of the past three quarters. The slumping results cut into GE earnings. NBC Universal said it plans to reinvest much of its savings into higher-growth areas. It has been aggressive in creating broadband-only channels, for example, and has partnered with Yahoo through Telemundo to establish one of the most popular Internet destination for Hispanics. The changes will be noticeable on television, where NBC will stop scheduling high-priced dramas and comedies during the first hour of prime-time at 8 p.m. Zucker noted that rival ABC has quietly been doing the same thing in recent years. "We want to be sure that we continue to provide the best programming possible," Zucker said. "We just want to put the programming where we get the highest rate of return." NBC's cost-saving plan involves laying off people from the company's 11 news divisions, including on-air talent. Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising Inkjet Printers Student Loans Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Advertisement: Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.