CMT gave notice to roughly six members of its editorial and production teams in the fallout from an upper-management restructuring that will likely change the fundamental role of its online site.
CMT.com editor Calvin Gilbert left his position on Sept. 15, and another reporter was told that their position would be phased out by the end of the year. The company would not comment directly on the moves, though it appears CMT is realigning its approach to digital news to mirror other Viacom properties, including TV Land and Spike TV (which will rebrand as the Paramount Network in January).
The CMT.com site will continue to exist, but the focus will shift to social platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, which use smaller news bites and photos rather than longer stories.
The move is part of a bigger-picture overhaul that saw about 20 employees cut from CMT, TV Land and Spike, according to The Hollywood Reporter. CMT executive vp development Jayson Dinsmore left the company, with Paramount/TV Land president of production and development Keith Cox taking over his role.
The existing Spike TV and TV Land sites are designed to cater to mobile platforms and are primarily devoted to promotion of their broadcast content.
CMT.com originated in 1997 as Country.com, with the network intent on owning the country news business online. In the ensuing two decades, the industry has become increasingly crowded, and some competing sites -- including Townsquare Media's Taste of Country and Cox Media's Rare Country -- have aggressively created volumes of content with smaller stories and photo/video posts.
Great American Country -- which, like CMT, originated as a country video channel -- similarly shifted its focus away from country-music news in recent years. Travel and country lifestyle stories now dominate the GAC home page.
