Netflix replaces content chief Bela Bajaria with Peter Rice a day after cutting 1,000 jobs

Netflix said today, Oct. 15, that Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria is leaving after nearly a decade. Peter Rice, a former Fox and Disney executive, takes over effective Oct. 26.

The move comes one day after Netflix cut about 1,000 jobs, roughly 6% of its workforce. It is the company's first layoff round in four years and its largest.

What Netflix said

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos praised both executives in a statement. Of Bajaria: "She led enormous changes at Netflix. She helped broaden our content offering to include the large-scale expansion of unscripted programming and the launches of live events and sports."

Of Rice, Sarandos said: "Peter is one of the most effective at-scale operators in the entertainment industry. His business acumen is sharp, his talent relationships are exceptionally strong, and his experience across TV and film is deep and broad."

Rice will oversee Netflix's global content organization, covering scripted and unscripted series, film and live events. Business Insider put the budget he inherits at $20 billion.

Puck was first to report the change. Netflix had denied rumors of Bajaria's ouster over the past couple of weeks, according to Deadline.

Who else is gone

Film VP Doug Belgrad and film director Sheroum Kim were cut in the restructuring. TV executives Lisa Lang McMullen, James Oh, Carolina Garcia and Andrew McQuinn have also exited in recent days, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016 after NBCUniversal let her go as president of Universal Television. She first ran unscripted programming, took over the global TV operation in 2020, and became chief content officer in January 2023.

Her résumé includes "Squid Game," "Wednesday," "Bridgerton," "Adolescence" and "KPop Demon Hunters," which Business Insider calls Netflix's biggest movie ever. She also built out live programming, including NFL games and WWE.

The numbers behind the shake-up

Netflix's stock is down nearly 40% over the past 12 months. It is down more than 20% so far this year. CNBC said shares were relatively unchanged in extended trading today.

Engagement grew just 2% in the first half of 2026, to 97 billion hours viewed, Deadline reported. Sarandos said at Bloomberg's Screentime event on Sept. 30 that "overall, we're not growing as fast as I want us to, and we're working on making that move faster."

The competitive picture is blunt. Nielsen data show YouTube took 14.2% of U.S. TV streaming time in July, versus 7.8% for Netflix.

Netflix also lost its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery to David Ellison's Paramount Skydance. That deal collapse took place on Sarandos's watch, not Bajaria's.

Talent is walking

Director David Fincher has left his Netflix production deal, as have Matt and Ross Duffer, the "Stranger Things" creators, who moved to Paramount. Noah Baumbach moved to Warner Bros., according to TheWrap. Fincher's "The Further Misadventures of Cliff Booth" still opens in theaters this November.

Rice built his reputation on exactly this kind of relationship work. At Fox Searchlight he oversaw "Slumdog Millionaire," "Juno," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Sideways." He later ran 21st Century Fox's TV operations and then Disney Television after the 2019 acquisition, until then-CEO Bob Chapek pushed him out in 2022. He joined the LA28 Olympics organizing group last year to oversee content.

The defense

Netflix's own position is that the underlying business is sound and that raw viewing numbers overstate the problem. Sarandos has argued that "all engagement is not equal." He has also said season-to-season viewership declines for returning series, which hit shows like "Beef" and "The Four Seasons," are "very common" in the industry.

The Hollywood Reporter noted that Netflix remains very profitable and is still growing. Business Insider noted it has more than 325 million subscribers, as of its last disclosure in January, and is the clear leader among paid streamers.

Sarandos has also said live programming represents 5% of Netflix's content budget but 1% of watch time. He argues it is effective at driving subscription sign-ups.

Emarketer analyst Ross Benes said the slowdown in hits and viewer growth made executive changes likely: "an ax was gonna fall on some executives who led content strategy." Deadline noted that Netflix has not launched a major cultural-phenomenon title in over a year.

What comes next

Netflix is testing a bigger theatrical push. "La Bola Negra" gets a 45-day theatrical window, and Greta Gerwig's "Narnia: The Magician's Nephew" is set for February 2027. Rice will inherit those calls.

The next public read comes Tuesday, Oct. 20, when Netflix reports quarterly earnings. Investors will hear how management explains the layoffs, the leadership change and an engagement number that grew 2% in the first half of the year.