Entertainment and media companies cut more than 17,000 jobs in 2025, an 18% increase from last year, as the industry continued to grapple with consolidation, restructuring and the growing impact of artificial intelligence.

Layoffs across television, film, broadcast, news and streaming totaled more than 17,000 through the first 11 months of the year, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The increase followed a slight decline in job cuts in 2024 and extended a multiyear trend of workforce reductions tied to mergers, shifting consumer habits and technological change.

News organizations accounted for 2,254 of the job losses, including broadcast, digital and print outlets. That total included 179 cuts in November. Despite the losses, news industry layoffs were down 50% from the 4,537 announced during the same period last year.

Restructuring and consolidation were the most frequently cited reasons for layoffs, Challenger reported. The Federal Communications Commission approved the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media this summer, leading to job cuts across Paramount’s entertainment operations. Disney also laid off hundreds of workers this year as part of a cost-cutting initiative launched by CEO Bob Iger in 2023 amid declining cable television subscriptions and a shift toward streaming.

Artificial intelligence has also played a growing role in workforce reductions. A World Economic Forum survey found that 41% of companies worldwide expect to reduce staffing levels over the next five years because of AI. While generative AI has enabled companies to automate more complex tasks, its financial returns have fallen short of expectations in some cases. At the same time, the WEF projects that jobs in big data, fintech and AI will double by 2030.

The entertainment and media layoffs reflect broader weakness in the labor market. Employers announced more than 71,000 job cuts in November across all industries, the second-highest monthly total in the past five years, behind only 2022, according to Andy Challenger, workplace expert and Chief Revenue Officer at Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Challenger said companies have moved away from announcing layoffs at the end of the year since the 2008 financial crisis. From 2010 to 2017, the media industry lost an average of 7,305 jobs annually. Since 2018, the average has risen to 14,298 job cuts per year.

One area of growth within the entertainment sector has been the creator economy. Employment in motion picture and sound recording industries in Los Angeles fell 27% from 2022 to 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the same period, employment in the creator economy increased by 5%, and the number of companies operating in the space also grew by 5%.

Media organizations have increasingly turned to AI as audiences fragment and attention spans shorten. Challenger data shows AI-related layoffs accounted for nearly 55,000 job cuts this year across industries. New York became the first state in 2025 to require employers to disclose when AI is the reason for layoffs.

“Currently, AI aids news workers rather than replaces them, but there are no guarantees this will remain the case,” a report from Columbia University’s journalism school said earlier this year. “AI is sufficiently mature to enable the replacement of at least some journalism jobs, either directly or because fewer workers are needed.”