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.

New York - Along with known file-sharing traffic throttler Comcast (NASD: CMCSA), fellow broadband provider Cox Communications is also interfering with the usage of BitTorrent and similar peer-to-peer applications by its subscribers, the Associated Press reported, citing research conducted by German's Max Planck Institute for Software Systems. The study monitored over 8,000 Internet users worldwide, and found conclusive evidence of blocked file-sharing connections only by Comcast, Cox and Singapore's StarHub.

Herndon, Va. - Cable TV and broadband provider Cox Communications on Thursday announced the launch of the Cox Rhapsody digital music service with customers in Northern Virginia. Developed with partner RealNetworks, the service offers unlimited on-demand access to Rhapsody's entire catalog for $12.99 per month; for $14.99 per month, users can also transfer songs to supported portable players.

Los Angeles - Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ABC has announced plans to make its primetime TV series available for free viewing on cable, satellite and telco TV video-on-demand services, with the stipulation that viewers will not be able to fast-forward through commercials.

San Francisco - Following reports that Comcast, the nation's second-largest broadband provider, is using technology to inhibit some users from sharing files using peer-to-peer technology on its network, comes news that fellow broadband provider Cox is employing similar tactics with its customers, The Register reported.

San Francisco - OpenTV (NASD: OPTV), a provider of interactive TV software and services, announced on Friday that it has settled its lawsuit against former competitor Liberate Technologies, with Liberate admitting that it infringed two OpenTV patents.

Englewood Cliffs, N.J. - NBC Universal announced on Monday that it has begun a trial with Cox Communications, the nation's third-largest cable TV provider, whereby it will offer several of its primetime shows for free on the company's video-on-demand service.

*A clarification has been made to this story.
Atlanta - Cox Television on Thursday announced that it has formed a new company, called Cox Cross Media, that will focus on online media advertising sales for its roughly 300 television stations. The new company plans to work with multiple media platforms, including mobile, in the future, Cox said. Cox Cross Media will be based in New York City.

*The original story incorrectly referred to Cox Television as a cable TV provider. The company is Cox's broadcast TV entity, and is a sister company to Cox Communications, the cable TV provider.

New York - TV production company RHI Entertainment on Monday announced plans to distribute 24 world premiere movies in the action, thriller and horror genres to cable TV subscribers on their video-on-demand services. RHI (formerly Hallmark Entertainment) will offer the films in both standard and HD VOD through partners including Time Warner Cable, Cox, Cablevision and Bright House Networks. RHI films slated for VOD premieres include "Black Friday" (Judd Nelson); "Maneater" (Gary Busey); and "Eye of the Beast" (James Van Der Beek). Following the VOD premieres, the films will air on networks including Sci-Fi, Spike TV and Lifetime, and be distributed on home video through Genius Entertainment.

Washington - The Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), an association of television broadcasters looking to accelerate development of mobile digital broadcast TV in the U.S., announced on Tuesday that nine additional broadcast station groups have joined its ranks. New members Cox Television, Dispatch Broadcast Group, Freedom Broadcasting, LIN TV, Meredith, Media General, Post-Newsweek Stations, Raycom Media and Schurz Communications joined existing members including Belo, NBC, Tribune Fox and Gannett. The OMVC plans to develop standards, devices and business models with the goal of a 2009 launch.

Silver Spring, Md. - Travel Channel Media, the travel media business previously owned by Discovery Communications and recently acquired by Cox Communications, said that it has acquired California-based online travel magazine World Hum.

New York - Cable TV provider Cox Communications has signed a deal with Disney to offer ABC and ESPN programming on-demand, but with the ability to skip past ads disabled for subscribers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Time Warner Cable also disables the fast-forward button on some of its on-demand programming.

New York - Major League Baseball (MLB) announced on Thursday that it has signed a deal with cable TV video-on-demand firm In Demand to carry its all-access Extra Innings subscription package, following a similar deal with satellite TV provider DirecTV.