Media Predict

Media Predict is a new online game from America that creates a stockmarket for media talent. Players register, get a virtual $5,000 to spend, and then back the projects or people they think will succeed.

As The Economist reports, the people behind Media Predict plan to charge companies to have projects listed.

This year was kind of a bloodbath for new [television] programmes,” says Brent Stinski, Media Predict's founder, “so we know that their systems need improving.” Advertising could provide another source of revenue. But laws against online gambling will probably foil Mr Stinski's hopes of turning the exchange into a real-money stockmarket. Traders will probably have to settle for prizes, which will be introduced later this year, and the warm glow that comes from knowing that they are the secret arbiters of public taste.