Break Lays Off 11

Break.com has laid off 11 employees, CEO Keith Richman told CNET today. The company now employs 80 and says it plans to replace those 11 people with workers “with different skill sets.” Cuts came from most divisions within the company.

Break.com started off as a video sharing site a la YouTube but shifted focus earlier this year, de-emphasizing video to become an ad network and destination site for men. In August, Break was bragging about its video ad effectiveness.

In an odd bit of coincidence, both Break and Veoh released studies earlier this month that showed how young men prefer being online to television, and both let go of employees, saying they would rehire to fill those positions.

Founded in 1998, Beverly Hills-based Break reportedly received $21 million dollars from Lionsgate Entertainment (which took a 42 percent stake in the company), and had partnerships with companies such as NBC, Endomol and TiVo.

For those keeping track, Break is now added to the layoff list that includes ManiaTV, Veoh, PermissionTV, Playboy, fellow men’s ad network Heavy, Seesmic, BitTorrent, Vudu, and Crackle, which lost most of its staff in its move to LA.