Peter Rice replaces Bela Bajaria as Netflix content chief
The former Disney executive takes over on Oct. 26, as Bajaria leaves after nearly a decade and Netflix cuts staff.
Netflix announced on Oct. 15 that Peter Rice will be its new chief content officer, effective Oct. 26. Rice takes the seat of Bela Bajaria, who is leaving the company after almost ten years.
In that role he will oversee everything the streaming service makes and buys: scripted and unscripted series, film and live events, according to the trade press. For subscribers, a change at the top of content usually shows up in the catalog over the following months, including in Mexico.
The handover comes alongside staff cuts. TheWrap reports that the company laid off about 1 000 employees, around 6% of its workforce, and presents the handover as part of that moment. It is the only outlet consulted that links the two stories.
Who arrives and who leaves
Rice ran Walt Disney Television and General Entertainment until 2022. Before that he built his career at Fox Searchlight, where he produced *Slumdog Millionaire*, and later led 21st Century Fox and Fox Networks Group. Since leaving Disney he has produced *Saturday Night*, *Warfare* and *28 Years Later*, according to TheWrap.
Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016. From 2020 she headed global content, and in January 2023 she became chief content officer. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos thanked her in the announcement:
I want to thank Bela for ten years of dedication, innovation, creativity and leadership.
Among the achievements of her tenure, Sarandos pointed to the growth of unscripted formats and the arrival of live events and sports.
Rice, for his part, said Netflix has transformed "at its root" how stories are made and experienced around the world, according to TheWrap.
What is still unclear
Netflix's announcement does not say whom Rice will report to or what role Bajaria will have between the announcement and Oct. 26. There is also no confirmed date for the layoffs.
