The Dutch public TV station BNN says it will go ahead with a program in which a terminally ill woman selects one of three patients to receive her kidneys. Dutch political parties have called for The Big Donor Show to be scrapped, but broadcaster BNN says it will continue and brpadcast the live program to highlight the country’s shortage of organ donors.
The 37-year-old donor, identified as Lisa, will make her choice based on the contestants’ history, profile and conversation with their family and friends. Viewers will also be able to send in their advice by text message during the 80-minute show.
The Donor show is developed by the Big Brother creators Endemol and before the program is broadcasted it creates an international outcry and a serious media hype. Media gather at the Endemol headquarters to see the program and to attend the press conference after, but at the end of the show it turns out that Lisa is an actress and that the show is a hoax.
After the huge consternation at the press conference, both the producer and the broadcasters are extremely happy that they managed to get so much attention for the sensitive issue of organ donation in The Netherlands and beyond. BNN wanted the program to show that even five years after BNN founder Bart de Graaff died of kidney disease, it was still difficult to get a donor organ.
For the programs Tagesshau, Tagesyhemen and Europamagazin from the German public TV broadcaster ARD, for the American ABC News and for the news program Tagesschau from the Swiss public TV channel Schweizer Fernsehen Featurez books a camera crew and attends the press conference, does the direction and interviews, organises footage of the program and organised and accompanied the satellite transfer of the video material.