FIRINGS

30 Laid Off at Oprah’s Network

OWN cuts one fifth of its staffers.

Oh no, O! Oprah Winfrey’s cable network, OWN, announced Monday that it is laying off 30 people, about one fifth of its workforce, to revamp its East and West Coast operations. The multibillionaire media mogul cast the firings in the terms of struggles faced by many fledgling companies, saying, “It is difficult to make tough business decisions that affect people’s lives, but the economics of a start-up cable network just don’t work with the cost structure that was in place.” OWN has suffered occasional setbacks since Winfrey launched the network in January 2011, but she said the cuts will help get the company on track for “long-term success.”