Overall, about 125 employees were laid off in the division. Of those, 25came from ABCNews.com and the rest from WDIG, according to one source closeto the companies. Disney confirmed that it has restructured, but declined to sayhow many employees were laid off.
"ABCNews.com has realized efficiencies from better integration with the ABCNews television group," ABCNews.com spokeswoman Lauren Kapp said Tuesday."There will be no changes in the quality and comprehensiveness of the sitegoing forward."
WDIG runs Disney.com and oversees technology resources. The division wasonce a publicly traded company that ran Disney's failed Web portal, Go.com,and the entertainment giant's many Web sites.
Disney also officially shut down MrShowbiz.com, a step it had announcedpreviously. "Your entertainment needs can be met on ABCNews.com," thecompany said in a note on the site's home page Tuesday.
"We restructured our technology organizations to be more appropriately aligned where our businesses are aligned and where we see them heading," said Kim Kerscher, a WDIG spokeswoman.
Since Disney laid off Go.com'sentire staff in January, the company has pulled the Web divisions of itsmost popular media brands, such as ABC and ESPN, back under theirrespective TV parents. As a result, Disney's Web efforts have becomeoffshoots of traditional businesses rather than standalone units.
The layoffs come just weeks after ABC.com announced massive layoffs that weeded out roughly 85 percent of the staff.