KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): The media industry is getting hit by sizeable rounds of lay-offs and cost-cutting measures as the ad market continues to show signs of a serious slowdown.

In a report on Tuesday (Nov 22), American news website Axios said that for many companies, the challenges are similar to the early onset of the pandemic.

But now, it said fewer government relief programs and resources from Big Tech firms are available to help.

The portal said an unprecedented number of media lay-offs occurred in 2020.

But last year, job losses were at their lowest since 2008, it said.

Commenting on the US situation, Axios said more than 3,000 jobs have been cut through October this year.

Axios said nearly all of the major entertainment giants are bracing for sweeping lay-offs in the next few weeks.

It said many of those firms have invested enormously in new streaming products that aren't profitable yet.

Warner Bros Discovery has continued to lay off staffers, in part to alleviate the debt created by the merger that created the new firm earlier this year.

Citing sources, Axios said that CNN chief Chris Licht warned employees last week that the network would see more lay-offs beginning next month.

Paramount Global, the parent to CBS, MTV, VH1 and a slew of other networks and streaming services, began to cut jobs last week, mostly in ad sales.

The Walt Disney Company last week announced lay-offs, a hiring freeze and other cost-cutting measures, as the company continues to struggle with rising streaming costs.

Axios said digital upstarts are particularly vulnerable to ad slowdowns, because contracts for digital ads are typically much easier to pull at the last minute than contracts for television ads.

It also said industry experts are particularly concerned about what a possible recession could mean for the newspaper industry, which is facing higher distribution and labor costs in the wake of the pandemic.