'$1bn TV game show' planned

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Pepsi is reportedly spending $20m marketing the show

A TV show offering finalists the chance to win a $1bn (£650m) lottery prize is reportedly being made for US viewers by soft drink giant Pepsi.

Millions of contestants are expected to enter the "Pepsi play for a billion" promotion, the Media Guardian website said.

It said the promotion would be launched next month with a $20m (£12m) TV advertising campaign.

Ten finalists would compete for $1m, and the winner would have a chance of winning a $1bn "bonus prize" in a lottery - with the numbers picked by a monkey.

According to the report, Pepsi will pick 1,000 people to compete on the show before whittling them down to 10 finalists.

Contestants would have to contact Pepsi with codes that will appear on its drinks cans from next month.

The company has reportedly taken out insurance to cover it in case anyone wins the $1bn prize.

The show would go out on US youth channel WB, which launched Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Its producer is said to be Michael Davies, the ABC executive behind Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the US.

On Tuesday Pepsi announced R&B singer Ms Dynamite had signed a contract to promote its brand in the UK.

As part of the deal - reputedly worth £1m - the Brit award-winning star will act as a talent scout for British music acts.