TV Guide Network cuts staff by 11%

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TV Guide Network, the cable channel majority-owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, is laying off 32 staffers and eliminating six vacant positions. The cuts represent about 11% of the channel’s workforce, a Lions Gate spokesman said.

The news, which was broken by Deadline Hollywood Daily, comes as the channel prepares to overhaul its programming and brand and even change its name.

There will probably be a lot more changes in the works at the channel as it tries to become a more mainstream general entertainment network. It is starting to buy product, but so far nothing to get too excited about unless reruns of Ashton Kutcher’s ‘Punk’d’ get you going. We’re told more substantial acquisitions are in the works.

Last month, Lions Gate sold a 49% stake in it for $123 million to an investment unit of JP Morgan Chase & Co.

— Joe Flint