Netflix has parted ways with chief content officer Bela Bajaria, the executive who steered the streamer through its biggest global hits, in a leadership shakeup announced on October 15, 2026 — just one day after the company revealed it was cutting roughly 1,000 jobs, about 6 percent of its workforce. Former Disney television chief Peter Rice will take over Netflix's entire global content operation on October 26.
The Shakeup at the Top
Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016 to run unscripted television and rose to chief content officer in January 2023. During her tenure she played a central role in building Netflix's international footprint, expanding its unscripted slate, and shepherding cultural phenomenon hits including Squid Game, Wednesday, and Bridgerton. She also pushed the company's move into live programming through multi-year partnerships with the WWE and the NFL.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos praised her "decade of dedication, innovation, creativity and leadership," crediting her with the large-scale expansion of unscripted programming and the launches of live events and sports. But the timing — announced amid the company's biggest job cuts since 2022 — has fueled debate across the industry about whether Bajaria is being made a scapegoat for deeper structural problems, a view multiple industry sources expressed to Variety.
Why Now: Slowing Engagement and Layoffs
The shakeup lands as Netflix faces mounting pressure on several fronts. Engagement climbed just 2 percent in the first half of 2026 to 97 billion hours viewed, and Netflix's share of US connected-TV viewing stood at 7.8 percent in July — well behind YouTube's 14.2 percent, according to data cited by Puck's Matthew Belloni. The company's stock has shed roughly 23 to 25 percent year-to-date, and revenue growth in its UCAN region decelerated from 14 percent in Q1 to 10 percent in Q2.
Netflix told staff in an internal memo on October 14 that it would cut roughly 1,000 employees, hitting product, technology, legal, and HR teams hardest. Sarandos and co-CEO Greg Peters framed the cuts as focusing resources on "high-impact areas." Netflix remains highly profitable — $11 billion in net profit on $46.6 billion in revenue in 2025, with 325 million-plus subscribers — but Wall Street is repricing the stock: Wedbush cut its price target to $90 from $105 while keeping an Outperform rating, and the median analyst target now sits around $94. Netflix reports third-quarter earnings on October 20, when investors will get their first formal reaction to the shakeup.
Who Is Peter Rice?
Rice brings decades of traditional television experience but little direct streaming background, as Deadline noted. He previously served as chairman of Walt Disney Television and chairman of general entertainment at Disney, overseeing ABC, FX, Hulu, and the TV studios behind hits like Modern Family, Abbott Elementary, and The Bear. Before Disney he held senior roles at 21st Century Fox and Fox Searchlight, and was dismissed from Disney in 2022; more recently he managed content for the LA 2028 Olympic ceremonies.
Sarandos called Rice one of the entertainment industry's "most effective large-scale operators," saying he will help "continue to scale and deliver members more of the stories they love." Rice himself said Netflix has "fundamentally changed the way stories are made, shared and experienced around the world" and that he is excited to help bring "even more great stories to members everywhere." Wedbush analyst Alicia Reese said the move is "a step forward, or at least a shift in direction."
What This Means for Netflix's Future
The Bajaria era was defined by global expansion — local-language hits that became worldwide phenomena. The Rice era, by his pedigree, looks like a bet on at-scale, operator-driven programming discipline at a moment when Netflix is losing viewing share to free, user-generated rivals. Whether a veteran of linear television can rekindle the breakout-hit machine that produced Stranger Things — a scale Netflix hasn't repeated in years, per Variety — will decide whether this shakeup is remembered as a reset or a retreat.
Watch: CNBC's breaking-news segment on Netflix's content chief shakeup — the announcement that Bela Bajaria is leaving and Peter Rice is taking over.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Silly Fun (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Reuters; The Hollywood Reporter India; BDNews24 / Variety