Show Must Go On

Lawmakers in the Dutch parliament have called for "The Big Donorshow" to be scrapped on ethical grounds, but the channel insists it will press ahead with the scheduled broadcast to highlight the serious lack of organ donors.

Laurens Dillich, the head of public service broadcaster BNN, told public radio: "The chances of the candidates obtaining a kidney are 33 percent, far better than for those on organ waiting lists. You would imagine that (waiting times) have improved, but they are getting longer."

BNN, a channel aimed at young people, is screening the show on the fifth anniversary of the death of its founder, Bart de Graaff. He died after waiting seven years for a kidney donation.

International criticism

The project has prompted condemnation across the Netherlands and beyond.

In Brussels, a spokesman for the European Commission -- which on Wednesday presented an action plan to reduce organ donor waiting lists -- said it was in "pretty bad taste."

The Dutch Kidney Foundation welcomed the attention BNN had brought on the subject, but noted that "their way of doing it is not ours, and it will bring no practical solution."

"I'm afraid it's primarily about the shock effect which has characterized the channel BNN since … the mid-90s," media analyst Jo Groebel told DW-RADIO. "I'm afraid that… the whole debate is just increasing the market value and the market success of such a program, and this is what makes it extremely cynical -- that the discussion itself adds to the program.

This is not the first time BNN has courted controversy. Previous broadcasts include "Sex, a User's Guide," a series of no-holds-barred education programs, and "Shoot Up and Swallow," a series dedicated to sex and drugs.

"The Big Donorshow" was dreamt up by Endemol, the Dutch production company behind "Big Brother" and other reality television shows. It focuses on Lisa, a 37-year-old woman dying of a brain tumor. She must decide which of three patients selected by the producers should receive her kidney. Viewers can offer their opinions by SMS text message.

Lawmakers want ban

On Tuesday, the show was brought up in Dutch parliament, where lawmakers agreed on the need to highlight the shortage of organ donors but were divided on whether reality television was the best way to do it.

Some lawmakers called on the ministers for health and media to take the program off air. The two cabinet members had already made clear they did not have the authority to ban the program.

In the Netherlands, organ transplants are subject to strict laws, which prohibit donors from choosing who will receive their organs after their death. However, an exemption is made in the case of kidney transplants, which can be carried out while the donor is still alive, allowing the donor to choose the beneficiary if there is some link between the two people.

After an EU-wide survey showed that while 81 percent of European citizens support the use of organ donor cards, only 12 percent have one, the European Commission proposed its action plan, which includes introducing an EU-wide donor card and creating organ transplant coordinators in hospitals. The EU executive arm is hopeful that European legislation on common standards for the quality and safety of organ donation will be introduced next year when its proposals are developed.