ReelzChannel To Relocate To New Mexico
Network Will Move Studio, Business Units, Maintaining Content Bureau In LA
By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 1/7/2009 6:52:00 AM
In a move that should save up to $20 million a year in operating costs, ReelzChannel will move its Los Angeles-based production and business units from
California
to
New Mexico
, a state offering generous tax credits and other incentives to the basic-cable network.
The relocation was announced at a New Mexico press conference by ReelzChannel executives and Gov. Bill Richardson. In a prepared statement, Richardson said: “The network’s decision to relocate operations to New Mexico is a testament to the hard work we’ve put into making our state a world-class production destination.”
The channel anticipates leasing a facility in Albuquerque, perhaps Albuquerque Studios, an independent, 28.1 acre studio with six sound stages.
Stan Hubbard, chairman and CEO of ReelzChannel, said the company will continue to operate a small “content bureau” in Los Angeles, but the bulk of the operation will vacate the LA Center studios, just west of downtown Los Angeles, by May at the latest.
The move could be completed as early as March if the channel can negotiate its exit from the L.A. studio lease. Hubbard said the channel will still come out ahead, even if it has to pay off the balance of that lease.
Hubbard called New Mexico a “business-friendly state,” adding that members of government agencies, the chamber of commerce and the New Mexico Film Office courted him heavily in an effort to convince the channel to make the move. He termed the relocation a preemptive move to counter an uncertain economy.
Hubbard added that layoffs, announced in December, were actually related to this move. Hubbard decided in November to move the channel and decided the transition would be easier if the channel was not trying to continue to produce its original series Dailies during the transition.
Forty people will lose their jobs at the end of January after the last episode of that series. That leaves about 160 employees who must make the decision to move to New Mexico. Hubbard declined to estimate how many employees would follow their jobs to the southwest, but added ReelzChannel already has a job fair planned for Jan. 13 in Albuquerque.
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