Viacom To Shed 850 Jobs

The entertainment conglomerate that owns MTV is cutting 850 jobs because of the economic slowdown.

Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures and the Comedy Central cable channels in the U.S., is also reportedly freezing senior executive pay.

The restructuring, which is expected to result in a charge of about $450 million against Q4 results, is aimed at saving $250 million per year. The 850 jobs are equivalent to 7 percent of the workforce.

Last month, Viacom reported a 37 percent fall in quarterly net profit.