2-6 Sept: Your guide to what’s happened this week in the media, entertainment and technology industry.

Disney set to reveal more layoffs following Fox takeover
Walt Disney has unveiled a number of job cuts, largely affecting the National Geographic arm it acquired as part of its takeover of 21st Century Fox, which was completed earlier this year.

According to Variety, citing two sources, Disney could cut up to 80 National Geographic roles spanning its live-event, travel and publishing operations. These would be moved to other parts of the corporation that handle these functions.

The layoffs could also impact its media distribution division, with up to 60 roles facing the axe. Counted among those layoffs are 20th Century Fox TV Distribution’s worldwide marketing executive vice president Greg Drebin and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s worldwide marketing and strategy senior vice president Jennifer Chai, a separate Variety report claims.

Eutelsat withdaws from CBA
Satellite provider Eutelsat has pulled out of the C-Band Alliance, which discusses the clearing and repurposing of C-band spectrum.

The surprise decision came as a Eutelsat spokesperson said the company was “not aligned with other members” on certain matters. The spokesperson refused to define what these matters are.

The CBA is an organisation tasked with the clearing and repurposing of C-band spectrum to make a portion of this band available for 5G services in the United States. Eutelsat said it still wishes to take a “direct active part” in these discussions. Remaining members include Intelsat, SES and Telesat.

In response, the CBA said it ”remains committed to delivering its expeditious, market-based proposal and the departure of Eutelsat does not impact the CBA’s ability to do so”.

Mediaset’s pan-European plan approved amid Vivendi feud
Mediaset shareholders have approved the company’s plan to create a pan-European media group under a Dutch holding company.

Under the plan, both Mediaset and its Spanish unit would be merged into a Dutch company dubbed MediaForEurope (MFE).

The vote is a blow for French conglomerate Vivendi which had opposed the move but was blocked from using all of its votes held in an arms-length trust.

Overall, Vivendi has built up a 29% stake in Mediaset, but only holds 9.99% directly - not enough to block the proposals, which were led by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Finninvest - Mediaset’s largest shareholder.

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