Netflix ousts content chief and film chief in five-day overhaul

Co-CEO Sarandos complained internally for months about weaker US viewing

Netflix has removed content chief Bela Bajaria and film chief Dan Lin within five days as the company seeks a creative overhaul to address a lack of new hit shows. Problems at the company that ushered in Hollywood’s streaming revolution have been building for a year as it has struggled to come up with hits on the level of “Stranger Things” or “Squid Game.”

Bajaria was removed last week, hours after Netflix laid off roughly 1,000 employees in a restructuring she had helped engineer, according to the Journal. On Monday, the company announced that Lin, previously a producer known for “The Lego Movie” and “It,” was leaving and that Rice would take over film duties until a new film head is chosen. Over the weekend, Lin had attended the star-studded Academy Museum Gala on Saturday night alongside Sarandos, where Taylor Swift performed in front of Hollywood’s elite, and a screening at Netflix headquarters on Sunday night for “La Bola Negra,” a movie considered an Oscars contender.

Netflix said Thursday it was replacing Bajaria with Rice, a Disney and Fox veteran with extensive experience in film, television and sports. Rice will start this week and oversee a roughly $20 billion global content budget for scripted and unscripted series, movies, and live events including sports.

The leadership changes come as Netflix prepares to deliver third-quarter earnings on Tuesday and try to answer Wall Street’s questions about its strategy. The company’s stock has sagged since its failed bid launched last year for Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and TV studios and HBO Max, which investors saw as a sign of weakness for a company whose leaders long said they were builders, not buyers; the stock is down more than 40% from a year ago, around the time the acquisition pursuit began. Like many media companies, Netflix is struggling to attract audiences spending more time watching YouTube and TikTok.

Sarandos had complained internally for months that Americans were spending less time watching Netflix and that the service was short on new hit shows, people familiar with the matter said. He has also told colleagues that he wants the company, which has experimented with everything from videogames to podcasts, to strengthen its core TV and movie offerings.

Netflix has expanded its content offering to boost engagement. Some newer categories, such as live sports, have been more successful than others, such as videogames. Only 3.5% of Netflix’s subscribers play games monthly, according to a recent internal memo, and that business is tracking about 10% behind its 2026 reach and engagement goals, the memo said.

As of the end of September, Netflix had not added net subscribers in any month this year in the U.S., according to analytics firm Antenna. Antenna tracks U.S. consumer purchases of subscriptions through sources such as credit-card bills, but does not include those bought through wholesale bundles. A Netflix spokeswoman disputed Antenna’s data, saying it is “not representative of Netflix’s business performance.” Netflix has not disclosed subscriber numbers since early 2025.

Earlier this fall, Netflix launched a restructuring plan known internally as “Project Meridian.” Executives discussed cutting as many as 10% of the company’s roles but settled on 6% after discussion with division leaders, according to people familiar with the matter. On the Wednesday of the layoffs, Sarandos and co-Chief Executive Greg Peters sent a memo announcing the cuts; by 2 p.m. that day, those laid off had lost access to their work email, according to people familiar with the matter. Hours later, Sarandos told Bajaria she was out.

Netflix remains the most powerful force in subscription streaming. The rate at which U.S. subscribers cancel the service remains the lowest in the industry at just 2.1% in September, according to Antenna, and in the second quarter Netflix reported double-digit percentage revenue growth in every region. In an internal memo announcing the layoffs, seen by the Journal, the company said it aims to deliver 13% to 14% revenue growth and operating margins of 31.5% this year.

Its engagement slump has resurfaced an old debate at the company: Were subscribers not watching more because of the programming from Los Angeles, or because of the recommendation algorithm overseen by engineers in Northern California? Overriding the recommendation algorithm — known internally as “putting your thumb on the scale” — was long verboten, but in recent months the practice has become more common as executives seek to boost viewership for certain shows and new types of content. More recently, the company has stopped pushing games and podcasts, focusing more on its core movie and TV offerings, said one of the people. Executives have also debated whether to change the release cadence of certain shows; Netflix typically drops all episodes of a season at once, while many competitors release new episodes weekly, and Sarandos has resisted the change. Netflix data shows that members prefer an all-at-once binge versus a weekly cadence, according to the company.

In another change, Netflix is starting to bet on major theatrical releases for some films after years of releasing most films directly online and giving a handful a few weeks on a limited number of screens. It is releasing films including “Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory” and “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” in theaters globally at least 45 days before they will be available to watch at home, the strategy typically used by traditional studios. The day before the layoffs, Netflix launched the psychedelic trailer for “Narnia,” soundtracked by Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” which quickly amassed nearly 80 million views on YouTube.

Netflix has also discussed letting customers subscribe to other services, like NBCUniversal’s Peacock, within its app and adding live channels. In France, Netflix has started giving subscribers access to the broadcaster TF1’s programming, which includes news. Video podcasts and creator content have allowed Netflix to add hundreds of hours of programming at a fraction of the cost of scripted series; during the company’s last earnings call, Sarandos emphasized that building up these new formats takes time and that they are “evolutionary, not revolutionary.”