The Other Half of Netflix’s Management Shuffle

Hey y’all, it’s Austin. Last week it finally became official: Content is king at Netflix. On Thursday the company appointed Ted Sarandos, its longtime chief content officer, to the co-CEO role alongside co-founder Reed Hastings. With Sarandos’ deep Hollywood relationships and track record architecting Netflix’s original content strategy, observers concluded that the company’s true home is in Hollywood.

But it’s worth noting the other half of the new org structure: Netflix, valued at $217 billion, also elevated chief product officer Greg Peters to chief operating officer. It was a signal that the Los Gatos, California-based streaming giant has no plans to abandon its Silicon Valley roots. Product design is an easily overlooked function when there’s a constant funnel of splashy shows on new platforms—from Quibi to HBO Max to Disney+ to Comcast Corp.’s Peacock—but it’s a critical factor in the streaming wars.