San Francisco - Loomia announced on Wednesday the launch of SeenThis?, an application that lets social network members see what their friends and group affiliations are reading and viewing on the sites of Loomia launch partners The Wall Street Journal (NYSE: NWS), NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and CNET Networks (NASD: CNET). The application will allow Facebook members, for instance, to see which WSJ.com articles or streaming NBC TV episodes are currently popular among their Facebook friends, as well as among members of the various groups they belong to on Facebook, such as their university's.

Los Angeles - Rapper Percy "Master P" Miller has been named president of Udub Music, a digital label launched by entertainment content distributor UrbanWorld Wireless, Billboard reports. The label's advisory board also includes former MCA Records president of urban music Ernie Singleton. Udub, whose roster includes Clipse, 40 Glocc and Bonecrusher, will create social networks for each of its artists, and distribute tracks both through its own site and via partners including Jamster, Thumbplay and T-Mobile.

Arlington, Va. - PBS said on Wednesday that much of its programming is now available for free on iTunes U, a dedicated area of Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes Store showcasing educational content. The content, which includes educational video clips, lectures, interviews, teachers' guides and a variety of other materials, is available in the Beyond Campus section of iTunes U.

New York - ROO Group, a provider of Web video and advertising distribution services, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Abacast and Pando Networks, to offer peer-to-peer streaming services to its customers. Abacast and Pando will work to integrate their technologies -- which count a combined 62 million users -- into the ROO Media Player, which may then be offered as white-label services to ROO customers.

Cannes, France - The Orchard, a digital distributor of independent label music, on Wednesday partnered with Chinese mobile firm ZTE, to develop marketing programs and content bundles to bring Orchard content to ZTE partners, including China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. ZTE delivered 30 million mobile handsets globally during 2007, is also adding applications such as music downloading and playing to its handset product range.

Seattle - ReelTime Rentals, a provider of movie and TV show rentals and subscription services over a broadband network, said on Wednesday that it has licensed content from children's TV producer Nelvana for distribution on its service. The deal includes titles such as "Jacob Two-Two" and "Flying Rhino Junior High." ReelTime last week signed another content deal with Sony Pictures Television.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Video-sharing site Metacafe, which claims 28 million unique monthly visitors, on Wednesday announced partnerships with several mobile entertainment firms. The deals with Buongiorno, which counts 100 carrier partners in over 50 countries; mobile entertainment network Dyuna; and Mobile Streams will facilitate the distribution of Metacafe's content on mobile phones.

Hollywood, Calif. - Video game developer Brash Entertainment said on Wednesday that it plans to publish a video game based on the "Saw" horror film franchise from Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures in October 2009. The "Saw" game will utilize the Unreal 3 game engine, and be developed for next-generation platforms.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace online social network on Wednesday announced the appointment of Amit Kapur as the company's chief operating officer, who among other things will oversee partnerships related to the upcoming Developer Platform the company plans to launch on Feb. 5.

Boulder, Colo. - Lijit Networks, a provider of search tools and statistics for blog publishers, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired BigSwerve, a provider of blog comment discovery services.

Port Washington, N.Y. - While most kids (70%) ages 9-14 say they are now downloading music each month, after Apple's (NASD: AAPL)iTunes Store (49%), the most popular source for music downloads was the Limewire free file-sharing network (26%), according to a recent survey conducted by market research firm NPD Group. "It's encouraging that so many young consumers are acquiring digital music the legal way -- by paying for it," said NPD VP and analyst Russ Crupnick.

Washington - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and members of Congress are proposing an increase in the number of TV ads notifying consumers of the impending transition to digital TV broadcasting in 2009, when an estimated 15.5 million U.S. households relying on analog broadcasts will lose their signals, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The FCC may approve a plan that would require broadcasters to air at least four 30-second public service announcements about the transition each day, increasing to as many as 12 per day as the Feb. 17, 2009 nears.

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) said yesterday that it will lay off 1,000 employees, or about 7% of its staff of 14,300, as part of a company realignment, after reporting that its fourth quarter profit was down 23%. The company said it would take a charge of between $20 and $25 million to pay for costs associated with the layoffs, which along with other cost-cutting measures are expected to reduce its annual expenses by over $100 million.

Santa Monica, Calif. - WonderHowTo.com, a Web index of over 90,000 how-to videos, on Wednesday announced its launch and the closing of a first round of financing, led by General Catalyst Partners.