Ted Sarandos has defended the Netflix leadership overhaul that landed in the same week as layoffs of 1,000 employees. The streamer is chasing stronger viewing numbers while revenue growth cools, and its content department now looks different. A veteran from Hollywood television is arriving to run the programming slate, and several senior names are heading for the door. The explanation came on an earnings call full of Wall Street analysts.

While the new chief gets a clean calendar, the outgoing one leaves a watchlist that subscribers already know by heart.

Ted Sarandos told analysts that Netflix must improve, and the company backed that message by replacing chief content officer Bela Bajaria with Peter Rice. Film head Dan Lin, his deputy Doug Belgrad, and Carolina Garcia also lost their jobs.

“I know that we could do better,” said Sarandos on the streamer’s Q3 2026 earnings call.

He added that Netflix saw “an opportunity to take our slate to the next level, especially in the U.S.,” where a big, buzzy show can have an outsized impact on audiences worldwide.

On the streamer’s Q3 2026 earnings call, as per Variety, Sarandos praised Bajaria for building an international team that makes local content worldwide. He has known Rice for about 15 years and called him a rare leader of networks, movie studios, streaming services, and live sports. Talent relations ranked as the key trait, since creators can choose where they work. Sarandos expects Rice to influence Q4 and 2027 projects soon.

While Netflix hands the keys to a fresh face, the face on the way out built some of its most famous worlds.

Bela Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016 from Universal Television and spent nearly a decade steering Squid Game, Bridgerton, Stranger Things, Wednesday, and Beef. She built the unscripted division and managed a $20 billion annual budget, according to Deadline. Her tenure also pushed Netflix into live events through deals with WWE and NFL. Rice starts as chief content officer on October 26, bringing a résumé built on arthouse film and network scale.

Rice chaired Walt Disney Television, overseeing The Simpsons, Abbott Elementary and Shōgun, until Bob Chapek pushed him out in 2022. Pressure explains the timing, since engagement grew only 2% in the first half of 2026 while YouTube took 14.2% of connected TV viewing in July against 7.8% for Netflix. The layoffs began October 14 and landed mostly on product, technology, legal, and HR teams. The promise to do better is now on the record, and the next earnings call will show whether it turned into numbers.

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