Bits: Netflix Gets a Star, and Google’s Conflicted Ad Blocker

Catch up on everything you missed from the world of tech this week. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, February 16, 2018 [For the latest updates, go to nytimes.com/bits »]( Netflix Gets a Star, and Google’s Conflicted Ad Blocker [As Netflix lures top producers like Ryan Murphy, cable viewers — and not the cord cutters — are the ones missing out, more and more, on television’s biggest shows.] As Netflix lures top producers like Ryan Murphy, cable viewers — and not the cord cutters — are the ones missing out, more and more, on television’s biggest shows. Jesse Dittmar for The New York Times Each Friday, Farhad Manjoo, technology columnist at The New York Times, reviews [the week’s news]( offering analysis and maybe a joke or two about the most important developments in the tech industry. Happy Friday, readers! Let’s review the week’s tech news. NETFLIX’S BIG DEAL AND THE END OF CABLE Netflix signed Ryan Murphy, the hitmaking producer behind “Glee” and the “American Crime Story” and “American Horror Story” anthology series, to a huge deal. An absolutely gigantic one, to be exact — [roughly $300 million over five years]( besting even the [$100 million deal that Netflix made with Shonda Rhimes]( year. Also, [YouTube announced an expansion of its streaming TV service]( adding several networks from Turner networks but also increasing its price. Now you can get its full lineup of channels streamed online for $40 per month, up from $35; that brings it to price parity with other streaming TV services, including Hulu’s. All this got me wondering: What’s the point of cable TV anymore? For a time, cutting the cord was one of those hipster affectations that came with sacrifices. A kind of asceticism was implied in the name. The cord, the familiar cable bundle of yore, required paying a whole lot for a bunch of bad TV you’d never watch, just so you could have very convenient access to the handful of shows you sometimes did watch. Then along came DVDs and the internet, and now you could unbundle — you’d pay a lot less for just the things you really wanted to see, provided you were O.K. hazarding some minor inconveniences. But as Netflix keeps driving trucks of money to TV’s top producers — it plans to spend $8 billion on new content this year — the script has flipped. More and more, it’s the people who haven’t cut the cord who are missing out. Today, if yousubscribe just to regular TV and don’t bother with Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and other online services, you’re missing some of TV’s biggest and most acclaimed shows. Plus, you’re paying more. Cable subscriptions have been declining for years, and last year the decline accelerated. But the YouTube expansion shows that cutting the cord keeps getting easier, and the Netflix deal shows how non-cable services keep getting more attractive. This suggests an even faster pace of decline for cable. The bottom is going to fall out of the market, probably very soon. DO YOU WANT GOOGLE AS YOUR AD BLOCKER? Chrome, Google’s popular web browser, can now block ads. This seems weird because Google is the internet’s largest advertising company. So how does an advertising company design ad-blocking software? Very, very carefully, it turns out, in a process rife with conflicts. Google argues that over all, the internet ad business has been great for the economy and society, but that a few bad apples are ruining it all. Google, then, wants to “maintain a balance,” because “if left unchecked, disruptive ads have the potential to derail the entire system,” the [company said in a blog post]( this week. (In a recent column, I took a different view, arguing that the digital ad business is [at the root of most of the internet’s problems]( So Google’s new ad blocker is designed to block some ads, not all of them. The software will eliminate a dozen types of ads that the company deems intrusive or disruptive. But most ads, including most from Google, would skate through just fine. But how does Google decide which ads are too disruptive? The company says it relied on input from an ad-industry group, the Coalition for Better Ads. But as the [The Wall Street Journal reported]( the group’s membership and its research were heavily influenced by Google. This has led to recriminations in the industry, with rivals charging that Google is using the veil of self-regulation to diminish its competitors. It’s an interesting fight, but it may also be an irrelevant one. What’s unclear is whether Google’s limited ad blocker will stem the rising popularity of more restrictive ad blockers. For many people who hate online ads, it could already be too late for half measures. WHICH TECH STORIES WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ? The New York Times’s tech reporting team is gathering in San Francisco this week for a team-building offsite. I’m looking forward to forgetting to catch Mike Isaac in a trust fall. We’ll also be talking about some of the major themes we’re aiming to cover in the tech world this year — artificial intelligence, crypto and the responsibility of tech companies, for example. But enough about us. What would you like to read more about? Which technologies, people and ideas in the tech world do you think deserve more scrutiny, investigation or wider notice? Send your thoughts — but, please, not pitches for your company — to bits_newsletter@nytimes.com. Farhad Manjoo writes a weekly technology column called [State of the Art](. You can follow him on Twitter here: [@fmanjoo](. ADVERTISEMENT In Case You Missed It [As the Streaming Wars Heat Up, Ryan Murphy Cashes In]( By JOHN KOBLIN The producer agreed to a $300 million Netflix deal months after Shonda Rhimes signed for $100 million and Apple and Amazon contributed to a manic market. [F.C.C. Watchdog Looks Into Changes That Benefited Sinclair]( By CECILIA KANG An investigation could lead to questions that the F.C.C. chairman, Ajit Pai, has so far tried to avoid answering in public. [N.B.A. Stars Get Into the Hollywood Game]( By BROOKS BARNES Los Angeles is suddenly crawling with basketball royalty like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, who are developing TV shows, streaming offerings and movies. State of the Art [The Autonomous Selfie Drone Is Here. Is Society Ready for It?]( By FARHAD MANJOO A start-up called Skydio has created a consumer drone that flies itself. Its tech is likely to become ubiquitous. [Bill and Melinda Gates Tackle ‘Tough Questions’ and Trump]( By NICK WINGFIELD In their annual update for the Gates Foundation, they say that they remain optimistic about the world’s progress, but that President Trump’s policies could hurt their efforts. [Welcome to the Post-Text Future]( By FARHAD MANJOO The internet was born in text. Now, video and audio are ascendant, writing is being left behind, and everything will be different. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [bits_newsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:bits_newsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Bits%20Newsletter%20Feedback%20223). ADVERTISEMENT LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. [The All-New DealBook Newsletter]( Our columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and his Times colleagues help you make sense of major business and policy headlines — and the power-brokers who shape them. 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