BELA BAJARIA is leaving no stone unturned to keep viewers hooked to Netflix, offering a multitude of global audiences something to relate to, with films and shows, including Leave The World Behind, Bridgerton and Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. “Our goal is to entertain over half a billion people with a wide variety of stories they’ll love, no matter what mood they’re in,” says Bajaria, who was named chief content officer of the streaming giant in January 2023. “We want them to get deep into these stories, tell their friends, and turn something new into a must-watch event — that’s when a story goes beyond viewing, and into culture.”
Netflix, which had over 260 million paid memberships at the end of 2023 and reported a 7% YoY growth in revenue to $33.7 billion, also forayed into live programming last financial year. Starting January 2025, it will exclusively telecast WWE Raw in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Latin America, and elsewhere, and stream NFL’s two Christmas Day marquee games globally on December 25. According to Netflix, WWE Raw is currently the no. 1 show on USA Network, bringing in 17.5 million unique viewers in a year. “What’s been exciting is watching the Netflix effect play out: Weekly U.S. sales of the Bridgerton book series went up by 552% between the Season 3’s trailer launch and premiere. Similarly, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar became a global cultural phenomenon, sparking trends across fashion, beauty and music — something we’ve seen before,” she says.
According to Bajaria, a key aspect of her role is to empower creative teams in over 20 countries to champion local storytellers. “These partnerships are how we’re able to bring fresh, original storytelling to our members — it’s what we want to keep getting better at.” — Arnika Thakur