What’s behind Hollywood’s latest wave of layoffs? The business is in reset mode

Editor’s note: Wide Shot will be off next week, with Hollywood Inc. senior editor Ryan Faughnder taking vacation. As part of that effort, the struggling media giant closed down Paramount Television Studios, the unit responsible for streaming shows such as “Reacher” and “The Offer.” Up to 30 people employed by the Nicole Clemens-led division lost their jobs as the group’s shows moved under George Cheeks’ CBS Studios. Paramount‘s and Warner Bros. Discovery’s decisions to write down the value of their cable networks felt like an admission that the TV business had reached a point of no return, and that once formidable brands including TNT, HGTV, MTV and Comedy Central had lost relevance. The phrase echoes the refrain of fans of beleaguered sports teams and people waiting for an $11-billion annual box office: “We’ll get ’em next year.” Stuff we wrote Hollywood is slowly getting back to work, but the days of peak TV aren’t coming back. ICYMI: ‘Fortnite’ maker debuts mobile storefront after years in court Longtime YouTube executive joins Disney in key tech role WGA warns writers not to work with Randall Emmett associate Warner Discovery puts TV networks under Channing Dungey Number of the week Fede Álvarez’s “Alien: Romulus” opened with a solid $41.5 million in the U.S. and Canada with positive reviews for the latest installment in the Walt Disney Co.-owned horror and science fiction franchise.