Business News at a Glance

We Have Streaming Revenue, Too, Says NBC. and We Can Prove It.

The entertainment industry has moved toward streaming. Netflix lured two super producers away from traditional television and Apple planning to spend $1 billion for streaming content. But NBC is positioned relatively well among the networks. It has learned to make money from viewers who stream its programs. NBC has intensified its efforts to measure this nontraditional audience with the Winter Olympics. Its latest ratings reports combined the number of viewers through broadcast, cable and streaming platforms under a single figure. It’s the network’s attempt to counter the Nielsen measure, which shows a shrinking Olympics audience.

Spending Bill Sets Path to Fix a Looming Pension Crisis

The bipartisan agreement to boost government spending reached this month included a step toward defusing what could be a financial time bomb for 1.5 million retirees and hundreds of companies in the Midwest and the South. It creates a congressional committee to craft what could be a federal rescue of as many as 200 “multiemployer” pension plans. Many of these plans are hurtling toward insolvency. The 16-member, bipartisan committee will have to come up with a solution and legislation by the end of November, which the full Senate would need to vote on by the end of the year.

Bitcoin Thieves Threaten Real Violence for Virtual Currencies

The rich have always feared robbery and extortion. Now, big holders of bitcoin and its brethren have become alluring marks for criminals, especially since the prices of virtual currencies entered the stratosphere. Virtual currencies can be easily transferred to an anonymous address set up by a criminal. While banks can stop or reverse large electronic transactions made under duress, there is no bitcoin bank to halt or take back a transfer, making the chances of a successful armed holdup frighteningly enticing. Thieves have taken advantage of this system in Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Canada, the U.S. and Britain.

Google Chrome Now Blocks Irksome Ads. That’s a Good Thing, Right?

As advertising has become more intrusive, hundreds of millions of web users have installed ad-blocking software to ward off full-page pop-ups, blaring video pitches that start automatically and ads with unstoppable countdown clocks. On Thursday, Google updated Google Chrome so it bans such ads by default. The update is not a universal ad-blocker, but a filter. But Google did not become a dominant advertising force by running its business in a way that did not serve its own interests. Google is betting that ridding the web of especially intrusive ads will render it more hospitable to advertising in general.

What Makes Public Radio ‘Very Personal’ Magnifies Its #MeToo Cases

Of all the media realms shaken by the #MeToo movement, perhaps the most surprising has been public radio, which has seen some of its most popular figures fall in recent months, including Garrison Keillor, Leonard Lopate, Jonathan Schwartz and John Hockenberry. On Wednesday, WBUR in Boston said it had fired Tom Ashbrook, host of “On Point,” after an investigation found he had “created an abusive work environment.” These revelations may pose risks to the bond public media organizations form with their listeners, whom they also rely on for financial contributions. Whether such departures will affect fundraising may soon become clear.