Peter Rice Named Netflix CCO, Replacing Bela Bajaria — SkimNews
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- Bela Bajaria is departing Netflix after 10 years as chief content officer; co-CEO Ted Sarandos thanked her for launching live events and sports, broadening unscripted programming, and building a global content slate.
- Peter Rice — the former chairman of Walt Disney Television who joined Disney through its acquisition of 21st Century Fox — will replace Bajaria as Netflix CCO, starting October 26.
- Bajaria's exit came one day after Netflix laid off roughly 1,000 employees, about 6% of its workforce, in the most sweeping cutbacks in the company's history.
- Rice was fired from Disney in 2022 by then-CEO Bob Chapek (replaced by Dana Walden); since then he has been producing, with credits including '28 Years Later,' 'Saturday Night,' and 'The Social Reckoning,' plus upcoming work on 'Elden Ring' and the LA28 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies.
- Under Bajaria, Netflix produced flagship titles including 'Squid Game,' 'Bridgerton,' 'Stranger Things,' 'Wednesday,' and the film 'KPop Demon Hunters,' plus a push into live events like Christmas NFL games, WWE matches, and the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match.
- Netflix's stock is down roughly 28% in 2026 since announcing plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery; that deal collapsed when Paramount-Skydance topped it with a larger offer for the entire company.
- Several top Netflix talent deals have lapsed recently — the Duffer Brothers moved to Paramount, Shawn Levy went to Disney, Noah Baumbach joined Warner Bros.' Clockwork, and David Fincher chose not to renew his deal.
Why it matters: A CCO changeover layered on top of 1,000 layoffs in the same week shows Netflix restructuring simultaneously at the creative and corporate level just as its stock sits roughly 28% below where it stood before the failed Warner Bros. Discovery bid. Rice inherits a bench already thinned by the Duffer Brothers, Levy, Baumbach, and Fincher walking out the door, making his October 26 start less a clean hire than a damage-control appointment.
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