After NashvillePost.com learned of the layoffs today, Shop At Home Vice President for Human Resources Laura Purswell issued the following statement:
"Last month, as part of a minor re-alignment based on current needs and opportunities at Shop at Home, the network adjusted its employment levels, affecting less than 4 percent of its employee base. Various operational areas were re-aligned. No changes were made to the lineup of on-air hosts."
Previously, a spokesperson from parent E.W. Scripps Company had told NashvillePost.com that reports of further looming layoffs at the company were "unconfirmed," but did not similarly challenge the figure of 40 layoffs given by a source close to the company. The total number of employees at Shop At Home is not known.
The job losses follow the disclosure a month ago by parent E.W. Scripps Company that it was "in the process of exploring strategic alternatives for Shop At Home" and had taken a $90.6 million charge to its fourth quarter earnings after writing down intangible assets related to Shop At Home. "The write-down is the result of continuing operating losses at Shop At Home and a longer than previously anticipated path to profitability," a company release stated.
"We're not necessarily looking at an outright sale," said Joseph G. NeCastro, chief financial officer at E.W. Scripps, on a conference call following the earnings release. Selling the company is "certainly one of the options," he conceded, but the company is also "talking to people about ways we can structure it and make it a better performing asset."
Scripps, which bought Shop At Home in 2002, installed retailing veteran James G. Held as chairman and president of the subsidiary last November. Held's background includes a successful turnaround management stint as CEO of Home Shopping Network.
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