Layoffs at Plum TV

    Plum TV, which is based in Miami but operates a station in the Hamptons along with seven other high-end markets in the United States, began what Robbie Vorhaus, a spokesman for the company and a Sag Harbor resident, called a “massive restructuring” last week, letting go 50 of its 85 employees across the country with almost no notice.

    “There were major layoffs in order to preserve the brand,” said Mr. Vorhaus.

    The day after Labor Day, the Plum TV station on Martha’s Vineyard shut down its operations and laid off all four of its full-time employees after a conference call with Tom Scott, the co-founder of the brand, who also founded Nantucket Nectars.

    “The Hamptons station will stay on air,” Mr. Vorhaus said. “And for anyone watching Plum TV in the Hamptons, there will be no change.” Plum Hamptons, however, has also suffered its share of layoffs. “Some people who have worked for Plum locally have lost their jobs,” Mr. Vorhaus said. “The greatest expense in running a company, along with the greatest talent, comes from people.”

    “We had to let some very talented people go to preserve the brand,” he said.

    Plum jumped headlong into the print world this year with a glossy magazine on the East End and in Miami. Now that “the season is over,” said Mr. Vorhaus, print will be taken out of the picture, possibly permanently.

    Jerry Powers, the company chairman and co-founder, resigned at the end of August. Mr. Powers admitted in a published report having had gambling debts in excess of $1 million, but said they had been paid, and that his reason for leaving was the debts accrued by Plum, not by him. The company’s president, Rob Gregory, has also left, to take a job with Newsweek magazine. Mr. Scott will continue as chairman.