STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
It's been a tough week for Netflix and for its workers. The company announced big layoffs. It fired some top executives, and on Tuesday, it reported its slowest revenue growth in years. Here's NPR's Mandalit del Barco.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: During their earnings call to investors yesterday, Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters tried to be upbeat. Their third-quarter revenue was better than expected by Wall Street but, still, the lowest in the past three years. Peters admitted the overall financial situation isn't where they'd hoped to be.
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GREG PETERS: Our engagement is solid, but we know that we can do better. It's our goal to go from very good to great.
DEL BARCO: Peters said they had to make some tough decisions about where to trim or redirect their investments. So last week, Netflix laid off a thousand workers, 6% of the company. Content chief Bela Bajaria was fired. Also let go, the chairman of Netflix Film and six other top executives. During the call, Sarandos praised Bajaria for expanding the company's global reach.
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TED SARANDOS: Bela had an incredible decade-long run here. She put a lot of great hits on the board.
DEL BARCO: And Sarandos gushed about her replacement, Peter Rice, the former president of 21st Century Fox.
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SARANDOS: He's one of the really rare people in the industry who's led TV networks, movie studios, streaming services. His creative instinct and his business acumen are remarkable.
DEL BARCO: The layoffs and firings are just the latest shake-up in Hollywood.
SEAN MCNULTY: It's just a great sense of unease.
DEL BARCO: Sean McNulty is a writer for The Ankler, which covers the TV and film industry.
MCNULTY: It's a tough time in Hollywood right now. Disney just had its third layoff in six months. We have a looming, massive layoff coming from the new Skydance Corporation, the combination of Paramount and Warner Bros. Then Netflix, which has been seen as a stable company, and yet you've just fired your content chief, your head of films, and you laid off a thousand people. So clearly things aren't going that well.
DEL BARCO: Netflix told investors to look forward to its new offerings, including the limited series "East Of Eden" and the film "The Further Mis-Adventures Of Cliff Booth," starring Brad Pitt.
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BRAD PITT: (As Cliff Booth) Whatever it is you're thinking, it's not what you think.
DEL BARCO: Also coming soon on Netflix, more live sports, the NFL and the Women's World Cup.
Mandalit del Barco, NPR News, Los Angeles. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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