RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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In the first major restructuring move of Byron Allen 's ownership tenure, BuzzFeed, HuffPost and Tasty are set to undergo a significant round of layoffs, with some 180 staffers to be given pink slips, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. BuzzFeed, across all its units, had approximately 510 employees prior to the cuts.
"Today we are making important changes to BuzzFeed that are required to put our business on a path to profitable and sustainable growth," read a memo from the company's leadership to employees on Monday. "Four months ago, in our March earnings call we stated a substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern. Fortunately after that public announcement, Byron Allen quickly stepped in and made an investment of approximately 26 million dollars into BuzzFeed to stabilize, protect, and grow the company."
In a $120 million agreement unveiled in May, Allen took a 52 percent majority stake in the company as well as the CEO role from founder Jonah Peretti, funded by $20 million in cash and $100 million in the form of a promissory note due five years after deal close.
The move was alternately characterized as either a lifeline to the Millennial media company or a decision of last resort given BuzzFeed's cash crunch as a publicly traded firm. In its latest quarter, BuzzFeed reported a nearly 20 percent decline in advertising revenue year-over-year. The company's net loss for the quarter was $15.1 million, up from $12.5 million last year. BuzzFeed is set to report its next earnings disclosure on August 4.
While Allen is the majority stakeholder in BuzzFeed and HuffPost, the company is separate from his Allen Media Group holdings, which include the linear TV assets of The Weather Channel, website TheGrio, local TV stations in multiple cities, streaming services Local Now and HBCU Go and branded networks like Cars.TV and Pets.TV. Allen Media, which has around 2,000 employees, underwent a notable round of layoffs in 2024 and sold roughly a third of its TV station portfolio for $171 million last year.
"I'm no different than any media company that's going through a transition," Allen told THR in May of his calculus for when he makes cost cuts. "If we have declines in linear spending, then we rightsize it. We made significant cuts, but these were cuts that were never made before. When I started the company from my dining room table it was go-go-go, grow-grow-grow. Now it's very different. During the pandemic, what people forget, is I didn't lay anyone off during the pandemic, not one soul. I said, 'People before profits.'"
Allen has said his goal is to transform his business so that in five years it would be powered by a significant free advertising video on-demand platform, Local Now, that's fueled by BuzzFeed and HuffPost content. Additionally, he's telegraphed his intentions to pursue a subscription video streamer, Starz, by hostile takeover if necessary.
"Byron sees incredible opportunity in all of our assets and recognizes BuzzFeed, HuffPost, Tasty and BuzzFeed Studios have large audiences and are great brands. BuzzFeed is well-positioned for growth, especially in free streaming," read the unsigned memo from BuzzFeed leadership on Monday. "BuzzFeed Studios will operate as its own entity consolidated under BuzzFeed, Inc., enabling us to maximize synergies across the broader portfolio and secure further investment. Content and Tech teams will be keenly focused on maximizing audience engagement, revenue, and profitability."
Despite its tumble, BuzzFeed is still a large web publisher with nearly 27.5 million unique visitors to its flagship website alone in June, per Comscore figures. But it's not as scaled as, say, a People (61 million) or even a USA Today (40 million), which may leave it at a strategic crossroads. Its former chief executive, Peretti, is now moving aside as an operator and will run a division titled BuzzFeed AI in order to take, as he described it, a "hands-on role developing products and technology that are only possible because of recent advances in AI."
Allen, meanwhile, has found new life for his Comics Unleashed series. In a one-season, time-buy deal, he took over CBS' Stephen Colbert Late Show time slot. Since picking up the slot in late May, the series has averaged under 1 million viewers, compared to the Late Show 's 2.9 million average viewers last season. CBS, however, may see a great deal, as Allen tells it. "I said, 'Let me put that show there and let me buy the time period. I can save you $30 million-$40 million,'" he recalled to THR in May of his pitch to the network. "They said, 'Brilliant idea, let's do it.'"
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