Washington - Sony Electronics (NYSE: SNE) and six major U.S. cable TV providers have announced an agreement that will enable Sony to develop and sell televisions able to connect directly to cable TV services without the need of a set-top box. The agreement between Sony and cable providers Comcast (NASD: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), Cox, Charter (NASD: CHTR), Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) and Bright House Networks -- which collectively serve 82% of U.S. cable subscribers -- will allow "two-way" digital TVs and other devices to deliver both standard cable programming and interactive services like pay-per-view and video-on-demand.

Washington - Following news this week that broadband ISP Charter Communications (NASD: CHTR) was planning to begin tracking its subscribers' Web surfing habits in order to serve them targeted ads, two prominent U.S. lawmakers have called on the company to delay the move, as it may violate federal privacy laws, CNET News.com reported.

Los Angeles - Charter Communications (NASD: CHTR), a provider of cable TV services that also counts 2.7 million high-speed Internet customers, plans to test a targeted advertising system that would track some of its subscribers' Web surfing in order to serve them more tailored ads, according to BroadbandReports. The company has partnered with NebuAD to build subscriber behavioral profiles and then sell them to third-party ad networks.

St. Louis - Cable TV provider Charter Communications said on Tuesday that it has partnered with Sivoo, a firm that offers multicultural and non-English language programming for the Internet and IPTV, to add international movies and TV shows to its Charter.net Web portal. At launch, the service will feature on-demand programs in Chinese, Hindi and Spanish

Los Angeles - One national and three local advertisers will share data on the effectiveness of their interactive TV ad campaigns on cable TV provider Charter's system in Los Angeles with the advertising industry, TVWeek.com reported.