CBS cut 36 Jobs

Job losses in the media industry continued this week with CBS Corp. (CBS) laying off staff at its CBS Entertainment unit and CBS Paramount Network Television, a production studio.

An internal source said CBS cut fewer than 36 workers. The cuts affected Los Angeles-based workers at the company’s Radford Lot in Studio City and a CBS TV facility in Hollywood. Some programming staffers were also cut in New York.

Maria Crenna, executive vice president with CBS Paramount TV, and Brian Banks, senior vice president with CBS Paramount TV, were the only department heads to be let go.

The media conglomerate has been reducing headcount across its portfolio for months in an effort to cut costs amid the global financial crisis and economic slowdown that threatens to weigh heavily on the advertising market. Last week, the company merged some of its online operations with CNET, which it acquired last summer for $1.8 billion, and cut an unspecified number of jobs.

Meanwhile, job losses have recently spread to the company’s big media counterparts, like Viacom Inc. (VIA), NBC Universal, News Corp. (NWS) and Time Warner Inc. (TWX). Jobs are being lost throughout the U.S. economy as the downturn takes its toll, but media is particularly vulnerable as the industry continues to struggle with the rise of digital communications.

From CNN Money