Netflix has replaced Bela Bajaria with Peter Rice as its chief content officer, putting a former Disney and Fox executive in charge of the streamer’s global content organization. The move comes as Netflix cuts about 1,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, in its largest axing to date.
That is why the search for Peter Rice is suddenly focused on Netflix. He will oversee scripted and unscripted series, film, live events and more across all regions, taking over one of the most powerful jobs in the company at the same moment the business is shrinking elsewhere.
Bajaria is out after 10 years at Netflix, where she most recently served as chief content officer. Her exit lands even as Sarandos publicly praised her in unusually warm terms, thanking her for a decade of “dedication, innovation, creativity and leadership” and saying she “led enormous changes at Netflix.” He also credited her with broadening the service’s content mix, including the expansion of unscripted programming and the launch of live events and sports, alongside a global slate of films and series.
That praise matters because it sits beside the facts of the shakeup. Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016 after leaving NBCUniversal, rose to head of global in 2020 and was named chief content officer in January 2023. Over that stretch, she oversaw Bridgerton, Squid Game, Adolescence, Beef, Stranger Things and Wednesday, while also pushing into KPop Demon Hunters and Frankenstein, plus live events such as The Roast of Tom Brady and deals with the NFL and WWE.
The restructuring also reached deeper than one executive chair. Netflix film VP Doug Belgrad was pink slipped, along with film director Sheroum Kim, underscoring that the changes are not limited to a simple title swap at the top. But the central question remains why Bajaria is leaving now, after helping shape a broader content empire that Sarandos himself described as world class. For now, the answer is not in the praise. It is in the decision: Netflix is betting that Peter Rice will carry that slate forward while the company trims its ranks around him.
