Cable firms map audience behaviour with digital set-tops

NEWS Cable TV viewers in the US will soon be giving more than just monthly subscriptions to their cable companies, as new set-top boxes are sold which can tell exactly what a viewer has been watching. MediaOne is trialling the new system in Detroit. Tracking information on viewing preferences is sent back to a massive database kept by the cable company. The company says it is then stripped of private information like names and addresses before being sold to advertisers. MediaOne claims the information should help the industry fight back against online media, which can tell advertisers exactly what users are viewing on their Web sites.