Disney is preparing a broad reorganization of its television operations that could eliminate hundreds of jobs and combine divisions that have long been organized around individual networks and studios, according to reports published Thursday. The proposal would instead orient the business more directly around streaming customers—a shift that could reshape how programs are commissioned, produced and distributed across some of the best-known brands in American television.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that senior executives are working through the details and that the plan may not be completed before year-end. Reuters independently summarized the report, identifying ABC Entertainment, 20th Television, Hulu Originals and Freeform among the operations under review. Disney had not publicly confirmed the plan or responded to Reuters’ request for comment when the news agency published its account.

A streaming-first operating model

The most consequential element is not simply the potential head-count reduction. The reported plan would recast Disney’s television organization around how audiences find and watch programs in streaming services, rather than preserving separate management structures built for broadcast and cable brands. That could consolidate overlapping work in development, production, marketing, distribution and business affairs, though neither report identified specific teams, locations or positions that would be affected.

Details remain fluid. The Journal described a plan still being developed by senior leaders, while Reuters said Disney Entertainment Television Chair Debra O’Connell is leading the effort. The number of possible layoffs is therefore an estimate tied to a proposal, not a finalized company announcement. Workers and creative partners still lack basic information about timing, selection criteria, severance, union consultation and whether the changes would alter programming budgets. Those unanswered questions matter because an organizational merger can reduce administrative duplication without necessarily producing the same effects on writers, performers, production crews and distribution teams.

Disney laid much of the organizational groundwork earlier this year. In March, the company placed streaming, film, television and games under Dana Walden and expanded O’Connell’s authority across ABC Entertainment, Disney Branded Television, Hulu Originals, National Geographic, ABC News and the company’s television studios. The announcement explicitly tied the structure to closer coordination among content creation, distribution and product teams.

A second change followed in September. Disney named Adam Smith chair of direct-to-consumer operations and gave Joe Earley responsibility for television franchise and content strategy alongside international originals, production, labor relations and talent development. Those assignments created clearer lines between the streaming platform business and the television groups supplying it. The reported restructuring appears to extend that logic deeper into day-to-day operations.

Growth does not remove the cost pressure

The proposal arrives while Disney’s streaming business is growing, but the wider entertainment operation still faces pressure to protect margins as consumers continue moving away from traditional television. In its latest quarterly results, Disney said subscription video-on-demand revenue rose 11 percent from a year earlier. Subscription revenue increased 15 percent, advertising revenue rose 3 percent and the segment’s operating margin reached 13 percent. Management also warned of a softer advertising environment in the following quarter.

Those figures help explain why a streaming-centered structure can be attractive even when streaming itself is not in crisis. Revenue growth creates an incentive to remove internal boundaries that slow decisions or duplicate functions, while weaker advertising conditions make legacy television costs harder to carry. At the same time, a more centralized system can create risks: fewer independent decision points may narrow the range of projects receiving support, and programs designed for distinctive networks may be evaluated primarily by their value to a global streaming portfolio.

Disney has already incurred substantial costs from earlier streamlining. Its most recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission recorded $88 million in severance for the quarter and $1.139 billion in restructuring and impairment charges over the first nine months of the fiscal year. The larger figure includes impairment charges and should not be treated as a measure of layoffs alone, but it shows that the company’s operational reset has already carried material financial consequences.

What the industry should watch

For Hollywood, the outcome could influence more than Disney’s cost base. ABC Entertainment, Hulu Originals and 20th Television occupy different points in the production and distribution chain. Combining or realigning their management may change which executives can approve shows, how projects move between broadcast and streaming, and whether outside producers face a more unified buyer. Freeform’s position will be especially closely watched because its cable identity and younger-skewing programming overlap with audiences Disney increasingly reaches through streaming.

The next meaningful evidence will be a formal organization chart, identified leadership responsibilities and a confirmed count of affected roles. Until Disney provides those details, it is too early to conclude that particular programs, brands or production facilities will close. What is clear is the direction: after integrating senior leadership and direct-to-consumer strategy, Disney is considering a television operation built less around the boundaries of legacy channels and more around the economics of streaming.