Pre-rolls don’t work for advertisers that want to reach a youth audience - “Custom Skins” and “Editorial Integration” is the way to go to monetize online video, according to Ricky Van Veen, co-founder of the vastly popular online video site CollegeHumor.com.

Los Angeles - NBC Universal's (NYSE: GE) Sci Fi Channel pay-TV network announced on Friday that it will bring its Web series "Sanctuary" to TV, adding that it will figure as the first TV series to use live-action actors against mostly virtual sets, similar to the process used in movies like "Sin City" and "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." The series, created by Damian Kindler ("Stargate SG-1") and starring Amanda Tapping (also featured in Sci Fi's "Stargate" series), is slated to begin filming in March.

Los Angeles - NASA on Friday announced plans to for the first time beam music into deep space, and has chosen the Beatles' "Across the Universe," to commemorate events including the 50th anniversary of the formation of NASA, and the 50th anniversary of key events in the formation of the Beatles. Monday, Feb. 4 also commemorates the 50th anniversary of the launch of Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite, and the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' recording of "Across the Universe." The song will be aimed at Polaris (aka the North Star), which is situated 2.5 quadrillion miles away, and will not arrive at its destination until the year 2439. "I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe," said Yoko Ono.

New York - Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) MTV said this week that it will send a team of citizen journalists to cover elections in Super Tuesday primary states, who will stream live video broadcasts throughout the day via mobile phones to its MTVNews.com and ChooseorLose.com sites. The citizen journalists will be equipped with Nokia N95 mobile devices, which will capture video that will then be streamed live onto the Web using technology from Flixwagon.

New York - CBS's (NYSE: CBS) CSTV and CBS Sports on Friday announced the launch of Fans Only, a social networking platform that lets sports fans create their own sites with news from thousands of sources, virtual tailgates, blogs and game picks. Fans can free create pages to follow their favorite teams, adding multimedia content such as streaming video highlights, statistics, polls, rankings and chats.

Los Angeles - Video game developer Brash Entertainment said this week that it is developing a game based on "Space Chimps," the upcoming animated film from Vanguard Animation and Starz Media. The title is slated for release for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii and DS alongside the film in July.

Stockholm - Prosecutors in Sweden this week filed charges of preparing and participating in copyright infringement against the four individuals behind The Pirate Bay, the notorious BitTorrent tracker site that has been targeted for years by U.S. entertainment companies. "In case we lose the pending trial (yeah right) there will still not be any changes to the site. The Pirate Bay will keep operating just as always. We've been here for years and we will be here many more," reads a response to the charges posted on The Pirate Bay's website.

Miami - Batanga, an online media and entertainment firm targeting Latinos, announced on Friday that it has acquired HispanoClick, an online Hispanic advertising network that reaches over 5.6 million unique U.S. users per month.

Fremont, Calif. - Nexage, a provider of mobile video and social networking services, announced on Friday that it has received an additional $500,000 from angel investors, bringing its total funding so far to $2.5 million.

Reston, Va. - Some of the top Internet brands, including Google (NASD: GOOG), Facebook, Wikipedia and Craigslist, were among the biggest gainers last year in terms of their Internet audiences, according to a new report from comScore (NASD: SCOR).

Cambridge, Mass. - Maven Networks, a privately-held provider of technology for advertising on Internet video, is about to be acquired by Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) for about $150 million, according to published reports. Meanwhile, on Friday, Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) launched an unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid for Yahoo.

Washington - XM Satellite Radio (NASD: XMSR), the provider of satellite radio services in the process of merging with rival Sirius, said on Friday that it has settled a lawsuit filed by major label Sony BMG (NYSE: SNE) relating to the Pioneer Inno, a portable satellite radio with advanced recording features. The financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Boston - MocoSpace, a mobile community site, has raised $4 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by General Catalyst Partners, PEHub.com reported.

Here's a quick analysis of one of the biggest stories in digital media and entertainment so far this year - Microsoft’s (NASD: MSFT) $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo! (NASD: YHOO). Strategically, it makes a lot of sense, but, in the world of M&A, there is a big difference between theory and practice. If the acquisition gets the nod of approval from anti-trust authorities as well as the shareholders, don’t expect Microsoft/Yahoo to become a lean mean online advertising machine overnight. Both companies are faced with their own fair share of challenges and it will take time for these companies, combined or not, to get their act together and catch up with Google (NASD: GOOG).

Westminster, Colo. - SpotXchange, the operator of an online video advertising network, announced that it has raised an undisclosed sum in its first round of angel funding.

RED Distribution is the leading independent distribution company of recorded entertainment media in North America.

The successful candidate must demonstrate wide-ranging expertise in all aspects of Feature filmmaking, with special emphasis given to strong skills in narrative visual storytelling.

Sunnyvale, Calif. - In a bold move that sent ripples through Silicon Valley before sunrise on Friday, Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) said that it has launched an unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid for Yahoo (NASD: YHOO). The deal, which would give Yahoo's shareholders the option of taking $31 a share in cash or an equal amount of Microsoft stock, represents Microsoft's stiffest challenge yet to Google (NASD: GOOG) in the online advertising market.