President exits, 15 laid off at TV and radio museum

The Museum of Television & Radio, confronted with “difficult financial challenges,” has laid off 15 employees in Los Angeles and New York.

The staff reduction, confirmed by Frank A. Bennack Jr., chairman of the board, comes at the same time as the resignation of the museum’s president, Stuart Brotman.

Museum officials could not be reached for comment late Friday. But Bennack said in a statement that 14 full-time employees and one part-time employee were let go last week.

“Like most other not-for-profit institutions, the museum has faced difficult financial challenges and reluctantly had to make these adjustments,” he said in the statement.

Bennack also announced that the museum president had resigned, effective immediately.

Brotman, president of a global consulting firm in Lexington, Mass., and a legal scholar, offered no public explanation for leaving after 15 months but said he had enjoyed his work with the museum and was looking forward to “remaining active in the global media, entertainment, telecommunications and technology industries through new avenues of opportunity.”

The museum plans to conduct a national search for his replacement.