---
title: "Netflix names Peter Rice content chief and cuts 1,000 jobs as 2026 ad revenue forecast falls to $2.7 billion"
description: "Bela Bajaria is out, Peter Rice is in, and the only scoreboard investors get is viewing hours that grew 2% in six months. Wall Street is splitting between a patient buy and a waiting sell."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Applications"
published: 2026-10-23T17:15:29.977Z
modified: 2026-10-23T17:15:29.977Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/netflix-names-peter-rice-content-chief-and-cuts-1-000-jobs-as-2026-ad-revenue-forecast-falls-to-2-7-billion
language: en
keywords: "Netflix, Streaming, Advertising, Layoffs, Analyst Ratings"
---

# Netflix names Peter Rice content chief and cuts 1,000 jobs as 2026 ad revenue forecast falls to $2.7 billion

> Bela Bajaria is out, Peter Rice is in, and the only scoreboard investors get is viewing hours that grew 2% in six months. Wall Street is splitting between a patient buy and a waiting sell.

The week [Netflix](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/netflix)'s growth stalled hardest, it changed who decides what 300 million people watch [5][6]. Chief content officer [Bela Bajaria](https://theinference.org/markets/people/bela-bajaria) is out after a decade; Peter Rice, the former chairman of Walt Disney Television, [takes the job effective October 26, overseeing series, film and live events](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/15/netflix-bela-bajaria-peter-rice.html) [5][6]. Rice is not a finance hire: under him Walt Disney Television produced Shōgun and Only Murders in the Building, and his credits span prestige film and TV [3].

Film chief Dan Lin went too, alongside roughly 1,000 layoffs, about 6% of the workforce, the streamer's largest cut to date [6][8]. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos defended the purge twice in two days, telling staff Rice is a rare operator who has "[led TV networks, movie studios, streaming services](https://deadline.com/2026/10/netflix-town-hall-executives-layoffs-peter-rice-1237170147/)" [3].

## The ad business is the pressure point

Netflix [cut its 2026 ad revenue forecast to about $2.7 billion from $3 billion](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/netflix-q3-earnings-beat-estimates-112800910.html), blaming slower rollout of its ad products [1][7]. Advertisers buy hours, and hours went flat: members watched more than 97 billion hours in the first half of 2026, up just 2%, while live events took just over 5% of content spending for about 1% of viewing time [1].

*Chart: **Netflix revenue growth has slowed for three straight quarters, from 17.6% to 11.8%** Line chart of Netflix quarterly revenue growth year over year, from 16 percent in Q4 2024 peaking at 17.6 percent in Q4 2025 and slowing to 11.8 percent in Q3 2026.*

*Revenue growth year over year by quarter, percent, from Netflix's SEC filings, retrieved October 23, 2026. [12]*

[Jefferies](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/jefferies) estimates monthly viewing per member fell from about 66 hours in early 2023 to 49 hours this year, down roughly 26% [9]. Q3 revenue rose 11.8% to $12.87 billion, and Q4 guidance of $13.44 billion missed the $13.51 billion consensus [8][10].

*Chart: **Netflix growth is decelerating toward single digits** Line chart of Netflix currency-neutral revenue growth slowing from 14 percent in Q1 2026 to 12 percent in Q2 and 11 percent in Q3, with a dashed 2027 point marked as a single-digit estimate, per Needham.*

*Currency-neutral revenue growth by quarter, percent; FY2027 point is Needham's single-digit estimate, shown as a range of 8 to 9 percent. Sources: Stocktwits via Yahoo Finance, October 23, 2026. [2]*

The complication is the scoreboard. Netflix stopped reporting subscriber counts in 2025 and cuts its viewing report to annual from 2027 [1][9]. Investors must underwrite Rice's unannounced slate with almost no instrument to read. Sarandos conceded the gap himself: "I know that we could do better, especially in the U.S." [3].

## Wall Street splits on the wait

[BofA](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/bank-of-america) kept its Buy but cut the target to $90 from $105, saying the quarter "did little to change the narrative" [1]. [Wolfe went to Peer Perform](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/stocktwits-wall-street-wrap-analysts-093054327.html), arguing the leadership change could delay the fix [2]. Needham cut to Hold, expecting single-digit growth in 2027 as [YouTube](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/alphabet) tightens its grip [2]. [Wells Fargo](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/wells-fargo) holds Sell at $57, and the stock now carries two Strong Sell ratings where August carried none [1].

## The cash is real, but it does not watch anything

The counterpoint is cash: a record $4.8 billion of Q3 buybacks, $10.8 billion this year against $9.5 billion of free cash flow [1]. Buybacks support the share price, but they do nothing for engagement, and engagement is what the ad forecast depends on. Rice also inherits Greta Gerwig's $280 million Narnia, [pushed from late 2026 to February 2027 after a poorly received trailer](https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-culture/netflix-turmoil-greta-gerwig-280-million-narnia-movie-headed-disaster) [4].

The trade is a patient re-rating against capitulation, and the next hard reading is the 2027 annual viewing report [9]. When this desk covered [the Warner Bros. auction on October 22](https://theinference.ai/article/netflix-cannot-buy-warner-bros-now-its-20-billion-content-engine-has-to-invent-the-savings), the argument was that Netflix's $20 billion content engine had to invent savings; that savings case now runs through Rice's slate [11]. If hours accelerate once his first bookings are announced, the bulls' re-rating has its proof. If hours stay near 2% growth, the single-digit 2027 view takes over and the discount deepens [11].

## Takeaway

Netflix bet on Peter Rice's content judgment on the same week it cut 1,000 jobs and trimmed its 2026 ad forecast to $2.7 billion, while quarterly growth slides toward single digits and Wall Street splits between a patient buy and a waiting sell.

## Sources

1. [TheStreet via Yahoo Finance, Netflix's content shakeup lands as Wall Street loses patience, 22 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/netflix-content-shakeup-lands-wall-174700322.html)
2. [Stocktwits via Yahoo Finance, Analysts Turn Bullish On SpaceX, Tesla, But Netflix And Chipotle Face Fresh Downgrades, 23 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/stocktwits-wall-street-wrap-analysts-093054327.html)
3. [Deadline, Netflix Co-CEOs Address Executive Shakeup & Layoffs In Town Hall, 21 October 2026](https://deadline.com/2026/10/netflix-town-hall-executives-layoffs-peter-rice-1237170147/)
4. [Fox News (OutKick), Netflix faces turmoil as Greta Gerwig's $280 million Narnia movie looks headed for disaster, 23 October 2026](https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-culture/netflix-turmoil-greta-gerwig-280-million-narnia-movie-headed-disaster)
5. [CNBC, Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria is leaving, will be replaced by Peter Rice, 15 October 2026](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/15/netflix-bela-bajaria-peter-rice.html)
6. [Variety, Netflix Shocker: Bela Bajaria Leaving After 10 Years Amid Layoffs, Peter Rice to Replace as Chief Content Officer, 15 October 2026](https://variety.com/2026/film/news/netflix-bela-bajaria-leaving-layoffs-1236913504/)
7. [Forbes, Netflix Q3 Earnings Show Ted Sarandos Wants Bigger U.S. Hits, 20 October 2026](https://www.forbes.com/sites/maureenkerr/2026/10/20/netflix-q3-earnings-show-ted-sarandos-wants-bigger-us-hits/)
8. [Business Insider, Netflix shares sink on earnings after a dramatic content executive shake-up, 20 October 2026](https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-q3-earnings-report-content-executive-shakeup-peter-rice-2026-10)
9. [ecoustics, Netflix Is Making Billions. So Why Is It So Hard to Find Something Worth Watching?, 21 October 2026](https://www.ecoustics.com/news/netflix-q3-2026-earnings-original-content-problem/)
10. [Zacks via Yahoo Finance, Netflix Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates, Ad Revenue View Trimmed, 21 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/netflix-q3-earnings-beat-estimates-112800910.html)
11. [The Inference, Netflix cannot buy Warner Bros. Now its $20 billion content engine has to invent the savings, 22 October 2026](https://theinference.ai/article/netflix-cannot-buy-warner-bros-now-its-20-billion-content-engine-has-to-invent-the-savings)
12. [Netflix, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 23 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001065280)


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Netflix names Peter Rice content chief and cuts 1,000 jobs as 2026 ad revenue forecast falls to $2.7 billion — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/netflix-names-peter-rice-content-chief-and-cuts-1-000-jobs-as-2026-ad-revenue-forecast-falls-to-2-7-billion