According to a report, with user and revenue growth slowing, streaming giant Netflix (NFLX.US) has announced a leadership change, naming veteran film and television executive Peter Rice as its new chief creative officer in a bid to revive growth momentum.
Rice previously served as chairman of Disney's (DIS.US) general entertainment division and, before that, as president of 21st Century Fox. He will take up the role on October 26, with a broad remit covering scripted and unscripted series, films and live events across all regions.
The personnel move means Bela Bajaria, who spent a decade at Netflix and served as the public face of its content strategy, is stepping down. The executive shake-up, together with the layoff of about 1,000 employees on Wednesday, or 6% of the workforce, shows the streaming leader is attempting to reinvent itself after slowing audience growth and a sharp share price decline.
The platform's global subscriber base has now grown to more than 325 million. But its positioning has shifted: from a producer of prestige series such as House of Cards and The Crown into a broad entertainment platform competing globally with sports channels, YouTube short videos and other diversified content.
Netflix executives see the appointment of Rice as an opportunity. Rice is deeply rooted in Hollywood, with strong talent relationships and proven experience managing a broad portfolio of channels and streaming businesses. During his time at Fox and later Disney, the lineup of shows he oversaw included hits ranging from The Simpsons to Modern Family.
By elevating Rice to the position, Netflix's senior leadership sees a chance to bring in an executive with deep ties to Hollywood talent and experience running a wide mix of channels and streaming services. At Fox and later Disney, the television programming he oversaw included popular works from The Simpsons to Modern Family.
Recently, several Netflix series have seen ratings cool in their second seasons. The platform's number of Emmy Awards wins in 2026 fell to its lowest in a decade. The company's shares have dropped about 23% this year. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos acknowledged at a conference in Los Angeles last month that the company's growth rate has not met his expectations.
Although the company has been expanding into live sports and podcasts, the vast majority of Netflix's roughly $20 billion programming budget is still spent on films, TV series and video games. "Peter is one of the best operators in the entertainment industry at scale," Sarandos said in a statement on Thursday. "He understands what makes a story resonate, and his entire career has been about helping talent create the best work of their lives."
Bajaria has been widely praised for broadening Netflix's entertainment offerings. She expanded the unscripted programming slate and struck a deal with TKO Group Holdings Inc. (TKO.US) to bring WWE's weekly wrestling show Raw to the streaming platform. She once memorably described the ideal Netflix show as a "gourmet cheeseburger" - both quality and broad appeal.
"Losing Bela Bajaria is a major change, but Peter Rice has a very high reputation in the industry," Wedbush Securities analyst Alicia Reese said in an email. "For us, this is a step forward, or at least a change in direction."
Reese said Netflix's shift from a streaming service to a platform with more diverse content fits well with Rice's experience. His experience integrating Fox's entertainment assets with Disney suggests Netflix may consider other acquisitions, such as bringing NBCUniversal into the fold when it becomes available for sale - after Netflix was outbid by Skydance (SKYD.US) earlier this year in its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
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