Netflix $NFLX named former Disney $DIS executive Peter Rice as chief content officer on Thursday, effective Oct. 26. He replaces Bela Bajaria, who is leaving the company after close to 10 years, the last stretch of them leading its global content team.
Rice will run Netflix's global content organization, with responsibility for series both scripted and unscripted, movies, live events and other programming in every region, the company said.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos credited Bajaria with expanding unscripted programming and launching live events and sports. "She led enormous changes at Netflix," Sarandos said in a statement. He added that Rice is "one of the most effective at-scale operators in the entertainment industry."
Rice said in a statement that Netflix has shown it is "willing to take chances on distinctive voices and fresh ideas."
Rice was most recently chairman of Walt Disney Television and chairman of General Entertainment at The Walt Disney Company. In those roles he oversaw ABC, FOX Broadcasting, FX Networks, Hulu and National Geographic, among other businesses. Earlier, he was president of 21st Century Fox, CEO of Fox Networks Group and president of Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Bajaria oversaw a content budget of about $20 billion, and Netflix released series including "Squid Game" and "Wednesday" during her tenure, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The leadership change landed one day following Netflix's announcement that it was eliminating about 6% of its global workforce, or around 1,000 jobs. The cuts were the company's deepest since 2022.
Netflix is grappling with growth that has slowed and with customers who are engaging less, according to The Wall Street Journal. Netflix stock is down more than 20% this year.
Netflix is scheduled to report quarterly earnings next week, according to CNBC.
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