Netflix names Peter Rice to replace Bela Bajaria as content chief

Netflix has put Peter Rice in charge of what you watch next.

The company announced on 15 October 2026 that Rice will replace Bela Bajaria as Chief Content Officer, the executive who leads decisions on what series and films get ordered, made and licensed. Netflix said Bajaria is leaving the company. She had held the top content job since 2023, according to The New York Times.

Bajaria was a 10-year Netflix veteran at the time of the change. She most recently led the global content team, which covers programming made in different countries and in different languages. That brief spans scripted series, meaning dramas and comedies with written scripts, plus unscripted shows and films. It is one of the most powerful creative jobs in television.

Rice is a former executive at Disney and Fox. He ran Fox Searchlight, the specialist film label, during the releases of Slumdog Millionaire and Little Miss Sunshine. He later served as TV Chairman at Disney, overseeing its television studios and channels, before his exit in June 2022. More recently, he produced the two 28 Years Later films and The Social Reckoning, according to Deadline.

He arrives during a sharp reset inside the organisation. Netflix laid off about 1,000 employees in October 2026, including film and TV executives. That round was reported as the largest in Netflix history. Cuts on that scale affect crews, writers’ rooms and development slates, because fewer executives means fewer people to order and shepherd shows.

What makes this stand out is the echo of the last change at the top.

In September 2020, Ted Sarandos replaced Cindy Holland as head of English-language series with Bajaria. Holland was an 18-year veteran at that point. Six years on, Sarandos has made a similar swap, with Bajaria now the long-serving executive handing over to an outsider.

Rice will inherit a senior team in flux. Dan Lin holds the top film post. Jinny Howe is Head of Scripted, UCAN, meaning the United States and Canada region. Eight TV executives have left Netflix to join Amazon MGM Studios in the past year. That movement matters. Relationships with writers and producers often move with the executive.

Rice is scheduled to start in 10 days from mid-October. His early decisions on orders, renewals and cancellations will set the programme slate that viewers will see in the months after he walks in.