Netflix just handed the keys to its entire content machine to a man Disney once pushed out the door. Peter Rice is the new chief content officer, and the Netflix content chief change takes effect Oct. 26, according to CNBC.
Rice replaces Bela Bajaria, who is leaving after nearly a decade at the company. He will oversee everything Netflix puts on screen, Deadline reports. That covers scripted and unscripted series, film and live events, across regions.
Who is Peter Rice, the new Netflix content chief?
Rice is a veteran of the old-school studio world. At Disney, his most recent roles were chairman of Walt Disney Television and chairman of general entertainment, Reuters reported. Before that, he held roles at 21st Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures.
His recent producing credits include “28 Years Later” and “Saturday Night,” per IndieWire. Many also saw him as a possible Disney CEO successor, until then-CEO Bob Chapek ousted him in 2022.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos did not hold back in his praise. “Peter is one of the most effective at-scale operators in the entertainment industry,” he said. He added that Rice’s talent relationships are “exceptionally strong.”
Rice returned the compliment. In his words, Netflix “has fundamentally changed the way stories are made, shared and experienced around the world.”
Flattering your new boss is standard practice. It also happens to be true.
What Bajaria leaves behind as Netflix chief content officer
Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016. She took the chief content officer title in January 2023, when Sarandos handed it off after holding it since 2000. Under her watch, Netflix released “Bridgerton” and “Squid Game.” It also pushed into live programming through multi-year partnerships with WWE and the NFL.
Sarandos thanked her for “a decade of dedication, innovation, creativity, and leadership.” Netflix describes her as leaving. Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter use blunter language, saying she is out.
No source offers a reason, and no statement from Bajaria turned up.
The timing here is the thing
Here is why the Netflix content chief change matters beyond the executive suite. The announcement landed one day after Netflix laid off about 6% of its workforce, roughly 1,000 jobs. IndieWire calls those the most sweeping cutbacks in the company’s history. Our breakdown of the Netflix cuts and why they came now has the full picture, and an earlier report had already flagged that layoffs were reportedly coming.
So who is paying for all this reshuffling? Mostly employees, for now. Netflix shares are down more than 20% this year, and viewership growth is slowing. Sarandos admitted as much on Sept. 30 at the Bloomberg Screentime summit: “overall, we’re not growing as fast as I want us to, and we’re working on making that move faster.”
Meanwhile, investors worry about holding that growth against free platforms like YouTube and TikTok. A hit factory that once seemed unstoppable now needs a reset, and Netflix just hired a Hollywood operator to run it.
What to watch from the new Netflix programming boss
Rice starts Oct. 26, and the open questions are plentiful. Netflix has not said whether he keeps his role as Head of Ceremonies and Content for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He was named to that job in July 2025. It also has not said who he reports to.
Deadline already runs a Netflix layoffs tracker that includes unscripted casting and development executives. A content-team shake-up under Rice would therefore not be a shock, and Hollywood is already reshaping itself, as the Skydance and Paramount merger shows. Nothing is reported yet.
One thing is certain: the man Disney let go is about to decide what the world binges next.
