LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Viacom is laying off 850 staff members, including about 500 MTV Networks employees, the U.S. entertainment industry trade newspaper Variety said.
Sources said the layoffs will mainly hit those in the Music/Logo/Films Group run by Van Toffler. However, some Paramount Pictures employees are also expected to be laid off, while Paramount Vantage, the studio's arthouse film division that has produced acclaimed works such as "Babel," "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood," is being almost entirely shuttered.