Netflix fell short of its Q2 global net subscriber addition targets in what the company’s shareholder letter Monday called a “strong but not stellar” quarter. Total net additions were 5.15 million for Q2, including 670,000 in the U.S. and 4.47 million internationally. Its Q1 letter had forecast 6.2 million global net additions for Q2, including 1.2 million in the U.S. and 5 million internationally. HBO and Disney “are evolving to focus on internet entertainment services,” and Amazon and Apple “are investing in content as part of larger ecosystem subscriptions,” said Netflix of its key competitors. “Each of these firms has unique content and is striving to find the best creators from around the world to entertain its viewers,” it said. “There has never been a better time to be a creator or consumer of content. We believe that consumer appetite for great content is broad and that there is room for multiple parties to have attractive offerings.” With anticipated additional competition from AT&T/Time Warner and from the combined Fox/Disney or Fox/Comcast, “our strategy is to simply keep improving, as we’ve been doing every year in the past,” said Netflix. In after-hours trading, the stock fell 14 percent to $344.49.

Dougherty again said it's an “enthusiastic” Dolby investor, in a research note Thursday, following reports the Xbox One S and X are getting Dolby Vision HDR support via a software update through the Netflix app. “Over time, we'd expect Vision support to be expanded to gameplay and Blu-ray playback,” said analyst Steven Frankel. The Dolby Vision support follows the rollout of Dolby Atmos support for Xbox, he noted. Frankel also cited Panasonic’s recent debut of Blu-ray players with Dolby Vision support, despite its lack of Vision support on the TVs it sells in Europe with HDR10+. Dolby didn’t respond to questions.

Sonos announced availability of AirPlay 2 via a software update Wednesday, which enables limited voice control via Apple’s Siri and direct music streaming from an iPhone or iPad, the company blogged. Older model Sonos speakers lack the “horsepower” required, the company blogged earlier. A workaround is to add one Sonos device with voice capability, to have voice control of an entire system, “including those older devices that didn’t have a microphone built in when we first released them years ago,” it said. Newer Sonos hardware can make AirPlay 2 content available “throughout the house on speakers old and new," it said.

Fox and Sky will find out Thursday if the U.K. culture secretary will approve the Fox's proposed buy of Sky. Fox, in a bidding war with Comcast for Sky, said Wednesday it upped its offer to 14 British pounds ($18.49) per share, which Sky's independent committee accepted. It said the deal hinges on that regulatory OK. Fox expects to close on Sky in Q3. Comcast is likely to lose its bid for Fox's non-broadcast assets and focus its takeover efforts on the bidding war with Fox for Sky, now that Fox has sweetened its bid, New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin wrote investors. He said of the various assets in the Fox portfolio, Sky would be most strategically important in Comcast's eyes. Comcast didn't comment. Sky's independent committee had recommended Comcast's April offer, which exceeded Fox's initial offer (see 1804260008).

In the early hours after major news events, YouTube will start putting short previews of news in its search results that link to the full article in an effort to provide more sources and context, Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan and Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl blogged Monday. They said the Alphabet/Google affiliate will expand testing of features that make it easier to access local news via the YouTube app for TV screens, bringing it to more U.S. markets. Information from third parties such as Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica will start being displayed alongside videos "on a small number of well-established historical and scientific topics that have often been subject to misinformation, like the moon landing and the Oklahoma City Bombing," wrote the two: Initial members of a related working group include Vox Media, Brazilian radio network Jovem Pan and India Today.

Netflix added a layer to its mobile download service called Smart Downloads, which automatically deletes an episode after viewing. It then automatically downloads the next episode of a series, blogged Cameron Johnson, director-product innovation, saying the feature is initially available on Android phones and tablets running the latest version of the Netflix app. The feature turns on only when a user is connected to Wi-Fi, and it can be disabled if a user wants to keep viewed programs, said the company.

Fox shareholders are being asked to vote on a deal with Disney without having all material information, a Fox shareholder alleged in a proposed class-action lawsuit (in Pacer, docket 18-cv-01007-UNA) filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, against Fox. Plaintiff Robert Weiss said the Fox proxy statement recommending a "yes" vote doesn't include Fox financial projections that were used by the company's financial advisers, Goldman Sachs and Centerview Partners; data and inputs underlying their financial valuation analyses; and Goldman's potential conflicts of interest. Also named as defendants were all board members. The Fox shareholder vote is scheduled for July 27. Tuesday, a Fox spokesman said the suit is "frivolous."

It's Dish Network that hasn't responded to negotiation offers, Univision emailed us Monday evening after the MVPD said the programmer hasn't provided a counteroffer to its most-recent proposal made before the blackout that started at June's end (see 1807090054). Univision said it hasn't heard back from Dish after the MVPD was offered an extension on June 30. Calling the blackout an apparently "common tactic" for Dish, a Univision spokesman said it's ready for carriage terms that don't "devalue our Spanish-language content relative to our English-language peers." The satellite provider didn't comment Tuesday.

Album sales continued to slide in first half 2018, falling 17.6 percent to 68.8 million, Nielsen said Monday. Digital album sales plunged 21.7 percent while streaming music continued to advance. Album equivalent consumption (AEC) -- digital albums, track equivalent albums of 10 tracks to one album and streaming equivalent albums of 1,500 streams to one album -- soared 24.7 percent to 318.8 million units. On-demand audio and video streaming led the AEC segment, growing a combined 42 percent, but digital album sales fell 18 percent to 69 million units, and digital track sales tumbled 27 percent to 223 million units. Streaming behavior varies by the day of the week, said Nielsen. Fridays see the most weekly streams for on-demand and programmed audio, while Saturday leads for on-demand video song streaming. Sunday is the lightest day of the week for on-demand and programmed audio listening.

It's laughable Dish Network claims to be victim in the Univision blackout, given how the MVPD has been responsible for most carriage disruptions this year, TV Freedom said Monday. Dish's "favorite tactic" is to force blackouts to get agreements with programmers, it said: "No one is buying" claims about protecting consumers from high direct broadcast satellite bills given the company's business tactics history. The Univision blackout began at the end of June (see 1807020030). Dish didn't comment on TV Freedom but said Univision hasn't provided a counteroffer to its most-recent proposal made before the blackout. Univision didn't comment.