Los Angeles, October 2, 2026: Walt Disney is reportedly preparing another major overhaul of its television operations, a move that could consolidate divisions and lead to hundreds of job cuts as one of Hollywood’s biggest companies reorganizes around streaming rather than the traditional broadcast and cable model that defined television for decades.
The restructuring has not yet been finalized. The Wall Street Journal reported the plan on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter, while Reuters said Disney had not immediately commented on the report. That distinction matters: the broad direction of the proposed reorganization has been reported, but the eventual number of affected jobs, final management structure and precise timetable could still change.
What Disney is reportedly planning
The plan is being led by Disney Entertainment Television Chairman Debra O’Connell and may not be completed before the end of 2026, according to the report cited by Reuters. Units expected to be affected include ABC Entertainment, 20th Television, Hulu Originals and Freeform. The central idea is to organize television operations more closely around streaming audiences instead of maintaining structures built primarily around individual linear-TV brands.
That sounds like a corporate organizational change, but it reflects a much larger transformation in how audiences consume entertainment. Traditional cable bundles have steadily lost subscribers as viewers shift toward on-demand platforms. At the same time, streaming companies have spent heavily on content, technology and marketing while trying to prove that digital audiences can generate durable profits comparable with the old cable model.
Why Disney is reorganizing again
Disney’s television business sits at the center of that transition. ABC remains a major U.S. broadcast network, 20th Television supplies programming, Hulu is a significant streaming brand, and Freeform has historically targeted younger linear-TV audiences. Maintaining separate organizational structures for each business can become harder to justify when the same program may ultimately be developed, marketed and watched across multiple digital services and devices.
The reported overhaul follows other job reductions this year. Reuters reported that Disney has already made cuts in marketing, Pixar, ABC News and ESPN, and that several hundred employees, primarily in human resources and technology, were laid off earlier this week. Last year the company also reduced staffing across film and television marketing, publicity, casting and development.
The changes have unfolded under CEO Josh D’Amaro, the former parks chief who took the top job in March. Earlier this year, D’Amaro told investors that Disney would continue focusing on creative quality, streaming, live sports and expansion of its parks and cruise businesses. That strategy places pressure on the company to direct resources toward businesses with the clearest growth prospects while making older operations more efficient.
Streaming is growing, but the economics remain difficult
The entertainment industry’s migration to streaming has created a paradox. Consumers have more viewing choices and greater control over when they watch, yet media companies have struggled to reproduce all of the economics of the cable era. Traditional networks once benefited from a combination of advertising revenue and fees paid by cable and satellite distributors. As cord-cutting accelerates, those revenue streams face pressure.
Streaming can reach global audiences directly, but it also requires expensive technology, constant programming investment and intense competition for subscribers. Platforms have responded with advertising-supported tiers, password-sharing restrictions, bundles and repeated price increases. Disney has been part of that trend: recent reporting indicated higher prices for several Disney+ and Hulu plans as the company works to improve streaming profitability.
For NewsNationOnline readers following the broader corporate shift, our Business section tracks major restructuring, markets and technology developments. Our newly published Federal Reserve rate outlook also explains the high-interest-rate environment facing U.S. companies and consumers.
What could happen to ABC, Hulu and 20th Television?
A reorganization does not necessarily mean Disney is abandoning its established brands. Rather, the reported strategy suggests that management functions and decision-making could be aligned around the way content reaches viewers today. A television series can begin as an idea at one studio, appear on a broadcast network, stream through Hulu or Disney+, and then generate revenue through international licensing and advertising.
Reducing organizational barriers between those stages could theoretically lower costs and speed up decisions. But restructuring also carries risks. Deep cuts can disrupt creative relationships, reduce institutional knowledge and create uncertainty among employees. Media companies must balance efficiency with the need to keep producing distinctive shows that attract audiences in an extremely crowded market.
Hollywood’s restructuring wave is bigger than Disney
Disney is not operating in isolation. The U.S. media industry has been undergoing consolidation and restructuring as streaming rewrites the competitive landscape. Paramount’s planned combination with Warner Bros Discovery, major strategic changes elsewhere in television, and continued pressure on cable networks show that companies across Hollywood are reconsidering structures created for a different distribution era.
That makes Disney’s reported changes part of an industry-wide question: how many separate television brands and management layers make sense when audiences increasingly enter entertainment through a streaming home screen rather than a cable channel guide?
Disney still has businesses that competitors cannot easily copy
Unlike a streaming-only company, Disney can connect film and television franchises to theme parks, cruises, consumer products and live experiences. Its experiences division has been a major profit engine. That ecosystem gives the company ways to monetize successful characters beyond subscriptions and advertising, but it also increases the importance of maintaining a healthy pipeline of films and television programs that can become long-term franchises.
D’Amaro’s challenge is therefore not simply to cut costs. Disney must decide where creative investment generates the strongest return, how much traditional television infrastructure it still needs, and how to keep Disney+, Hulu, ESPN and other services competitive while protecting the value of established brands.
What employees and viewers should watch next
The most immediate question is whether Disney confirms the reported plan and provides specific numbers for job reductions. Because the proposal may not be finalized until later in the year, the final structure could differ from what is currently under discussion. Investors will also watch whether the company can demonstrate that another reorganization produces measurable savings without weakening programming output.
For viewers, changes may initially be almost invisible. Corporate reporting lines do not necessarily alter what appears on screen. Over time, however, a streaming-first structure can influence which shows are commissioned, how they are marketed, whether they are designed for broadcast or digital release, and how Disney allocates budgets across ABC, Hulu, Disney+ and its studios.
The larger shift from channels to audiences
The most important element of the reported Disney plan is the move away from organizing primarily around legacy television brands and toward organizing around streaming customers. It captures the industry’s broader transition from a world where viewers chose a channel to one where platforms try to understand individual audiences across thousands of programs.
Disney’s brands remain among the most recognizable in global entertainment, but recognition alone does not solve the economics of a rapidly changing distribution system. The coming restructuring will be closely watched because it may offer another indication of what a major Hollywood television company looks like after streaming becomes the default rather than the alternative.
Sources and image credit
This report is based on Reuters’ October 1 coverage of the Wall Street Journal report, with additional background from Reuters reporting on Disney’s strategy and streaming business. Featured image: Walt Disney Studios entrance, Burbank, California, via Wikimedia Commons; reuse information is available on the source file page.
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