Netflix Inc. has named veteran film and television executive Peter Rice as its new chief content officer, replacing Bela Bajaria, who held the job for nearly a decade.
Rice previously served as chairman of general entertainment at Walt Disney Co., and, before that, as president of 21st Century Fox, supervising a portfolio that included hits like The Simpsons and Modern Family. He assumes the new role on Oct. 26, with a broad mandate, overseeing scripted and unscripted series, film and live events across all regions.
“Peter is one of the most effective at-scale operators in the entertainment industry,” Netflix co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement. “He understands what makes stories resonate, and he’s spent his career helping talent do the best work of their lives.”
The move comes in a week that saw the streaming TV giant lay off some 1,000 workers. Sarandos told Bloomberg News earlier that the company isn’t growing as fast as he would like.
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Netflix has struggled to find new hit shows, and has seen viewership of its most popular series decline in their second seasons. The service saw its Emmy Awards wins fall to a 10-year low this year. The stock has lost about 23% of its value this year.
“Losing Bela Bajaria is a big change, but Peter Rice is very well regarded in the industry,” Alicia Reese, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said by email. “To us, this is a step forward, or at least a shift in direction.”
Reese said Netflix has been shifting from a streaming service to a platform with more varied content, and Rice’s experience fits this effort well. His experience consolidating Fox’s entertainment assets with Disney suggests that Netflix may look at other acquisitions, such as NBCUniversal when it becomes available, after being outbid fro Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.