Netflix is replacing its Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria with former Disney executive Peter Rice as the streamer seeks to turn around its business amid higher churn over the past few years.
Rice will assume the position on October 26, Netflix announced Thursday. He will oversee the company’s global content operations, including scripted and unscripted television series, movies, live events and sports programming.
Bajaria is leaving after nearly a decade with Netflix, including almost four years as its top programming executive. Her departure follows a round of layoffs Wednesday that eliminated approximately 1,000 positions, or six percent of the company’s workforce. The cuts affected employees across the organization, including executives working in film and television.
The leadership changes come amid concerns about slowing engagement growth and the performance of Netflix’s original productions. The company has experienced declines in viewership for some returning programs, while its stock has fallen more than 20 percent this year. Netflix also collected 16 Primetime Emmy Awards in 2026, compared with 30 last year and 44 in 2021.
Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016 after serving as President of Universal Television at Comcast’s NBC Universal. She initially helped expand Netflix’s unscripted programming operations before becoming Head of Global Television in 2020. She was promoted to the role of Chief Content Officer in January 2023.
During her tenure, Netflix released popular series including “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Bridgerton,” “Squid Game” and “Adolescence.” She also oversaw the company’s expansion into live entertainment and sports, including programming agreements with the NFL and WWE.
“I want to thank Bela for a decade of dedication, innovation, creativity and leadership,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in a statement. “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, in addition to crafting and running a world class, global slate of films and series.”
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Rice brings extensive experience managing television and film operations. Before leaving Disney in 2022, he served as Chairman of Walt Disney Television and Chairman of General Entertainment, overseeing businesses that included ABC, FX, Hulu, National Geographic and Disney’s television production operations.
Earlier, Rice held senior positions at 21st Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures, where he worked on films including “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Juno” and “Little Miss Sunshine.” Since departing Disney, he has produced several movies, including “28 Years Later.”
“Peter is one of the most effective at-scale operators in the entertainment industry,” Sarandos said. “His business acumen is sharp, his talent relationships are exceptionally strong, and his experience across TV and film is deep and broad.”
Netflix is scheduled to report its third quarter (Q3) financial earnings on Tuesday.
