A handful of Internet music sites are combining the best of terrestrial, satellite and Web radio by offering innovative features:

• Last.fm functions similarly to sites like Pandora, where the listener can type in a favorite artist and then hear music by similar artists. The site syncs the listener's choices with their music profile and offers suggestions for other songs and artists they may like.

It also offers a selection of free downloads from a sizeable library: The site has licensing deals with the four major record labels -- Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG, Warner and EMI.

Next up: Last.fm is planning to borrow a page from radio with a digital version of the traditional request line: a free music on-demand component. Listeners will be able to request and listen to a full stream of a song up to three times. After that, they'll have the option of buying it as a download through iTunes, Amazon or 7 Digital.

The site also will offer exposure -- and money -- to artists who aren't signed to a record label. Musicians will be able to upload their work and be paid directly by Last.fm every time one of their songs is played.

Now owned by CBS Radio, Last.fm was founded in 2002 in London as a social music site. CBS bought the company in May.

www.last.fm

• Theradio.com, online in Beta form, is reminiscent of satellite radio, with well-programmed, multiple channels geared to music by decade and genre. It's designed to appeal to all kinds of listeners: those looking for traditional hit formats and those looking for specialized music.

Channels are organized by decade and subdivided into formats. For example, there are country, R&B and pop channels ranging from the '50s through the '90s. Others are devoted to specific types of music -- beach music, "beautiful" music, truckers' songs, a hybrid country/Christian, one-hit wonders, party music and Broadway, along with things you probably won't find elsewhere, such as Northern Soul, a '60s British dance club phenomenon devoted to British and American soul artists, and The Velvet Elvis, an all-Elvis impersonators channel.

Theradio.com's online player displays artist and title information for the current track and for the last played and upcoming tracks.

www.theradio.com

• Anywhere.fm offers listeners the mobility of radio, letting them take their digital music collection wherever there's an Internet connection.

Users can upload their MP3 collections and play-lists through iTunes and access them by logging on to Anywhere.fm's Web site. There are no limits on how much music an individual can upload, although that may change in the future.

Members can also explore streams of free music, offering hip-hop, pop, rock, R&B and classical channels.

The site also has a networking feature that allows people to find others with shared musical interests.

Anywhere.fm was recently acquired by the social networking site Imeem.

www.anywhere.fm

A Web series is headed for the TV screen: The Sci Fi Channel will start production on a TV version of "Sanctuary."

The TV version will combine live actors and virtual sets, as was done in the Web version of "Sanctuary" and in the films "Sin City" and "300."

The Web series, which launched last year, is a collaboration of "Stargate SG-1" alumni: star Amanda Tapping, writer Damian Kindler and director Martin Wood.

www.sanctuary-forall.com

Another Sci Fi Channel series will soon be available online: The Jim Henson Co. is making "Farscape" available as iTunes Store downloads. The first seasons of "Farscape" and the puppet series "Fraggle Rock" are available for download at $1.99 each. Complete series episodes for both will be made available in the coming months.

And now that it looks like the writers' strike is nearing an end, perhaps eager fans will be getting word from Brian Henson about promised "Farscape" Webisodes.

www.apple.com/itunes/

Vin Di Bona, producer of "America's Funniest Home Videos" -- the original, old-school version of You Tube -- is going online with a user-generated video site.

Reality.tv will offer family-friendly (and advertiser-friendly) content. One channel is devoted to -- of course -- animals, and others to "funny, amazing and random" events.

Reality.tv also will give users a chance to create their own Web series. Entrants are required to submit five complete webisodes, which may be showcased on the site. Complete submission guidelines are listed on the Reality.tv site.

reality.tv

If you're a Yahoo Music Unlimited subscriber, prepare to move your online music collection to Rhapsody in the coming months.

Yahoo! Inc. has announced that it will sell its subscription download service to Rhapsody.

For a monthly fee, Yahoo Music Unlimited users can download and listen to music as long as they maintain their subscription.

Yahoo will continue to offer downloads, online radio and music videos in its music section.

music.yahoo.com/ymu