Plans to dump the popular television word quiz Lingo because too many old people watch it have led outraged MPs to ask questions in parliament, Dutch news websites reported today. The show is watched by over 800,000 people every day and has been a television fixture since January 1989.

But now Ton van Dijk, the coordinator of the public Nederland 1 television network, has told newspaper Trouw that he was trying to make the channel ‘more youthful’. ‘Lingo gives us a too-old profile and that is why we want something else,’ he told the paper.
The game is played by two teams of two and involves guessing a five-letter word in five attempts. The format is broadcast in more than 20 countries.
Christian Democrat MP Joop Atsma said the decision to scrap the show was a ‘scandal’ and is to raise the issue with new media minister Maria van der Hoeven. Labour MPs also criticised the decision and TV station Tros, which produces the show, said it had been deluged with calls from angry viewers. The position of network coordinator is a new function, introduced when the three public channels’ programming was reorganised this summer.
Earlier this year, Van der Hoeven’s predecessor Medy van der Laan said the show was ‘simple entertainment’ and did not merit being carried by a quality public broadcaster.