Celebdaq
Encyclopedia
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
stock exchange
Stock exchange
A stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and...
" game on the BBC's
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
website
Bbc.co.uk
BBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
. In the past the game had its own television show on BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
. The television show was presented by Paddy O'Connell
Paddy O'Connell
Guy Patrick Bennett O'Connell , known as Paddy O'Connell, is an English television and radio presenter, working mainly for the BBC....
& Libby Potter
Libby Potter
Libby Potter is a British reporter best known for her appearances on BBC Three and BBC Two's The Money Programme.After gaining a degree in English Literature from St John's College, Cambridge, Potter's media career began in the BBC's New York news bureau, reviewing US film releases for BBC News 24...
. Later, the comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Jenny Eclair was the presenter.
Players were given the opportunity to buy and sell shares in celebrities using £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
10,000 of virtual cash. As in real-life stock markets, the trading of shares caused each celebrity's share price to fluctuate, allowing profits to be realised. Weekly dividend
Dividend
Dividends are payments made by a corporation to its shareholder members. It is the portion of corporate profits paid out to stockholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, that money can be put to two uses: it can either be re-invested in the business , or it can be distributed to...
s were paid on shares owned based upon how much press coverage the celebrity received in a number of daily newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s and magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s. There was also a version specifically concentrating on sportspeople, called Sportdaq
Sportdaq
Sportdaq is the web-based sister game to the BBC's Celebdaq. Sportdaq started during August 2004. Players buy and sell shares in sport stars using £10,000 of virtual cash that they are given to play with...
.
History
Celebdaq was launched on the BBC website in mid-2002. It was based on other very similar games, PopexPopex
Popex was a free Internet-based game in which players, using virtual money, bought "shares" of musicians and bands, similar to a stock market. Upon signing up players were given 5,000 popex pounds to start trading on the stock market. As demand for bands rose and fell, based on their popularity and...
.com which had been 'trading' in musicians since 1998, and Hollywood Stock Exchange. The Celebdaq code was a port of the popex code, with some additions. The website consciously imitated the financial setting of the Stock Exchange with share prices fluctuating continuously around the clock.
After a slow start and a number of rule changes to prevent cheating, the game rapidly gained popularity and a weekly prize for "Top Trader" was instigated consisting of £100 in cash along with a stripy jacket replicating those worn by traders on the floor of the stock exchange. The prize was later changed to a selection of merchandise.
The site was used to promote the new BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
digital channel which opened the following year, and Patrick (Paddy) O'Connell, a former business correspondent and real-life stock exchange expert, was engaged as presenter of the tie-in BBC Three TV shows which were broadcast from 14 February 2003 to 18 March 2004.
In 2004 Celebdaq was chosen as the best entertainment site on the internet at the Interactive Bafta awards.
Until 2005 the BBC also provided online message boards for traders to discuss strategy and post tips for the coming week. Following an incident in which a footballer who had taken out an injunction preventing publication of a story was named on the site, the BBC tightened editorial controls and shortly afterwards the official Celebdaq message boards were scrapped altogether.
.
There are still a number of MSN Groups
MSN Groups
MSN Groups was a website part of the MSN network which hosted online communities, and which contained Web pages, hosted images, and contained a message board...
, where experienced players and former top traders post their weekly tips thread.
On 7 January 2010 the BBC announced the creation of a new Celebdaq game . The two games ran in tandem, with the new game in beta . Although it was possible to upgrade an account, it was not possible to carry on trading shares that were already owned.
Site Closure
Celebdaq and its sister website Sportdaq were both closed on Friday 26 February 2010 as part of a series of cuts to the BBC's online services. The BBC stated that its online operation needed a "new, harder focus on quality and distinctiveness".Weekly Events
Millionaire Day: Everyone who has a portfolioPortfolio (finance)
Portfolio is a financial term denoting a collection of investments held by an investment company, hedge fund, financial institution or individual.-Definition:The term portfolio refers to any collection of financial assets such as stocks, bonds and cash...
worth over a million pounds gets 'kneecapped'. In the early hours of Monday morning, traders who are worth over a million pounds will have their portfolio emptied, and exchanged for a status symbol, depending on how much you have. See Kneecapping and Status Symbols . Traders who have had their portfolio emptied will be given £10,000 to keep on playing.
Top Trader: The person who has made the most profit in percentage terms during the last 7 days wins celebdaq merchandise. The winner has often made 20+ fold increase. However, Since August 1, 2007 the "Top Trader" competition has been suspended.
Diary Day: A list of upcoming celebrity events during the next week is put on the website. This can be used as a guide to who is likely to get dividends.
Dividend Friday: The dividends accumulated during the last 7 days are handed out. The dividend received depends on how long you have owned the share. Only shares that have been owned from Monday till Friday receive the full dividend.
Kneecapping and Status Symbols
This happens when someone accumulates over £1 million. They have all their money and shares taken off them and given a fresh £10,000. This prevents people controlling the market when they acquire large amounts of cash. To compensate them they are given status symbols to replace the number of millions they had.- £1 million: Fat Wad of Cash
- £5 million: Sexy Car
- £10 million: Luxury Yacht
- £25 million: Very Big House in the Country
- £50 million: Executive Jet
- £100 million: Exotic Island
- £500 million: Crown of a Minor Nation State
- £1 billion: You Become Bill GatesBill GatesWilliam Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...