TCA Board Blames Hollywood Layoffs, Contraction and Diminished Production for Canceled Summer Tour

Add the Television Critics Association’s 2025 summer tour to the growing list of events impacted by Hollywood’s continued contraction. During a meeting with members on Thursday, the organization’s leaders explained why the biannual press tour was canceled for the second time this year.

Because of negotiations with The Langham Huntington in Pasadena — the California hotel where the event has taken place for the past several years — TCA had to sign a contract by March 31 to lock in the discounted room rates for members. By the time that deadline approached, several networks were unsure if they would be able to commit to the event.

“Some networks had said they wanted to come back. They were going to, and then there were layoffs announced. This was one contraction after another,” Jacqueline Cutler, president of TCA, said during the meeting. “I also know that, of course, they talk just like we talk. When this one pulled out, then the next one did. And if these two aren’t coming, then we couldn’t. So that’s what we were left with.”

In recent months, nearly every major media company in Hollywood has experienced layoffs. In March, The Walt Disney Company cut almost 200 employeees, or 6% of its workforce, focused in ABC News Group as well as the company’s entertainment networks. Nearly 1,000 employees at Warner Bros. Discovery across production, business affairs and finance were let go in July of 2024. Paramount also saw blows to its advertising and Paramount+ communications team at the end of 2024, and both Lionsgate Television and The CW have recently experienced layoffs.

The fact that there’s been so much consolidation among media companies also played a role. Ten to 15 years ago, more networks were independently owned and operated. But now if a major player like Disney decides that TCA is not worth the investment, that doesn’t just mean that ABC, ESPN and Disney Branded Television are out. It means FX, National Geographic and Hulu are also not participating. Without those bigger names, smaller players in the TV market became more hesitant to participate in tour.

Additionally, diminished production in Los Angeles played a role in the cancelation. FilmLA’s annual production report revealed that there were only 23,480 shoot days recorded in 2024, marking the lowest annual total on record outside of the 2020 pandemic.

“Many networks were pointing out how few shows are shooting in LA,” Cutler said. “They were going to have to shut down productions, whether they were in Vancouver, Toronto, New York or Atlanta, and bring them out. It was becoming more and more expensive … It was just more of what we have been seeing with cutting back.”

Cutler repeatedly emphasized that TCA is in the midst of a “restructuring” period. Though what exactly that restructuring will look like remains to be seen. Members of the TCA board emphasized they were looking into developing and hosting more professional development workshops for members, as well as possible in-person meetups across the country.

The board also floated the idea of exploring virtual options, which has long been a hot button topic within the organization. While virtual panels like the ones TCA hosted during the pandemic years are cheaper for networks, they eliminate the networking opportunities that make the organization so valuable to its members. If this option were to happen, the board emphasized that TCA and not the networks would have control over who asks questions during panels, a common complaint that arose during the COVID years of press tour.

“We have options to do things virtually, and that does not mean recreating what we did during the pandemic. It does not mean doing the ridiculous junkets that some of us participate in, but rethinking how we can use these tools to get you the access that you need, and to really have that same kind of conversation you might have had if we were together in person,” Andy Dehnart, vice president of TCA, said. “We also want to keep in-person as a really strong core part of TCA that doesn’t have to be limited to LA necessarily.”

Despite those explanations, there was a general sense of frustration among members during the meeting. The Television Critics Association is a group of roughly 200 journalists across the United States in Canada who report on the television industry. Traditionally, the organization hosts two press tours a year, one in the winter and one in the summer.

The 2025 winter tour was previously cancelled, also due to what was described as “deep contraction” in the industry. The effects of the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes were cited as a reason for that particular tightening of the network pursestrings, though it should be noted that even if that tour happened, it would have likely been canceled due to the California wildfires. But after repeated tour cancelations and a string of virtual sessions, an organization that was once vital to the TV industry is now in as precarious a place as the rest of media.

“TCA will continue. We are looking forward to those next steps, and we are looking to have something in place this summer or soon. It’s not like we’re just going away,” a board member assured members during the meeting.

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