More Media Layoff/Shutdown Roundup: Time Inc., Forbes, NBC Universal, IAC

f you had any romantic notion that the beginning of holiday season meant an end to media layoff season, think again. In addition to the 850 Viacom (VIA) workers who are getting pink-slipped, this looks to be a particularly bad few days at Time Warner’s (TWX) Time Inc., where many of the titles that asked workers to quit last month will now be firing them instead.

The New York Post’s Keith Kelly has already reported that layoffs are in motion at People, Time and Sports Illustrated over the next few days; I am told that cuts are also coming to Fortune magazine today or tomorrow. Here’s a Sports Illustrated employee’s take on the situation there:

We are all expecting the hatchet Thursday or Friday. Morale is dismal. One colleague of mine, uber golf writer John Garrity, told several of us that he’s taking the package but will continue on for a while as a special contributor. We expect two or three photo editors to go, and two or three members of the Sport’s Illustrated Latino staff (the Spanish language SI publication, which posted a net profit of approx. one million in ’07 and broke even in ’08, was inexplicably shuttered). Also photographers are rumored to be being cut to half time service and members of our copy desk have been asked to take up to a 30% pay reduction for which they will work fewer hours. Charlie Leerhsen, one of our two executive editors, told a few staff members that he was going to be leaving.”

In other layoff/shutdown news:

I am told that Forbes (where I worked for many years), is in the final stages of planning cuts as it prepares to merge the editorial operations of its magazine and Web site units. Last month the company began integrating its business groups and laid off about three dozen people in the process.
GE’s (GE) NBC Universal has laid off at least 30 people in its sales group, reports AdAge. The cuts are part of a previously reported mandate from NBC CEO Jeff Zucker to cut three percent of the company’s budget. The Post says another 80 people could be fired at CNBC.
Barry Diller’s IAC (IACI) is breaking up its programming group, which includes ventures like College Humor, 236.com and Tina Brown’s DailyBeast.com. Some but not all of the sites will be closed down or sold off. PaidContent has details.
As always, I value reader input: You can reach me directly at peter@allthingsd.com.

LAYOFFS AT TV GUIDE, FORBES

Forbes and TV Guide separately unveiled sweeping cutbacks yesterday, while The New York Times Co. shut down its critically acclaimed sports magazine Play.

Three-year-old Play, which was an insert into its Sunday paper, published 13 issues since its inception. Mark Bryant, the one-time editor of Outside who was Play's editor-in-chief, blamed the closure on the deteriorating ad picture.

"It comes down to the same thing that seems to be happening on an almost daily basis around the media business," he said.

He said the few editorial staffers at the magazine are being absorbed into other parts of the Times.

TV Guide staff cuts involve 33 people in New York and Radnor, Pa. Deputy Editor Leslie van Buskirk was the highest ranking editorial person ousted in the cutbacks.

Meanwhile, Forbes laid off 43 people, most of whom were on the business side.

As part of the Forbes shakeup, the business and marketing staff of the flagship Forbes magazine and forbes.com Web site will now be under one management team. A similar arrangement might be in the offing for the editorial side, though such moves might be put off until next year.

As part of the changes, Web site forbesautos.com is being discontinued. Matthew De Paula, its editor, was among those let go Friday. Forbestraveler.com will lose three people as part of a scaling back of that Web site.

The combined print and Web site business operation will be split among three groups: Brand intelligence, led by Kevin Gentzel, the former top ad sales executive at forbes.com, who will now carry the title president and group publisher of Forbes Media; the integrated solutions group, led by Mike Woods; and the Forbes media sales and service group, led by Avery Stirratt and Robert Pietsch, who will serve as co-presidents and chief advertising officers.

keith.kelly@nypost.com