Netflix Replaces Content Chief Bela Bajaria With Peter Rice
Netflix is replacing chief content officer Bela Bajaria with Peter Rice, as the company looks to reignite growth after a slowdown in viewers and revenue.
- Incoming: Peter Rice, from 26 October
- Outgoing: Bela Bajaria, after ten years at the company
- Remit: scripted and unscripted series, film and live events, all regions
- Context: layoffs of about 1,000 staff, or 6 per cent, reported the same week
Why Peter Rice Is The Choice
Breadth. Rice was chairman of general entertainment at Walt Disney and, before that, president of 21st Century Fox, overseeing a television line-up that ran from The Simpsons to Modern Family.
Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive officer, is reported to have called Rice one of the most effective at-scale operators in entertainment, citing an understanding of what makes stories resonate and deep relationships with Hollywood talent.
What The Job Now Involves
Steering most of a programming budget reported at roughly $20bn, the majority of which still goes to films, television shows and video games even as the company stretches into live sports and podcasts.
The pressures are specific. Netflix counts more than 325 million subscribers but recent shows have lost audience in second seasons, Emmy wins fell to a ten-year low in 2026, and the stock has shed about 23 per cent this year. Sarandos acknowledged at a conference last month that growth is not as fast as he would like.
What Bela Bajaria Leaves Behind
A broadened slate. Bajaria expanded the unscripted offering and struck a deal with TKO Group Holdings to bring the WWE's weekly show Raw to the service, and once described the ideal Netflix programme as a gourmet cheeseburger, combining quality with mass appeal.
Analysts quoted on the change see a step forward or at least a shift in direction. Alicia Reese of Wedbush Securities said losing Bajaria is a big change but that Rice is well regarded, and noted that Netflix's evolution from a streaming service into a broader platform suits his experience. Rice's record merging Fox's entertainment assets into Disney also prompted speculation that further acquisitions could follow.
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