Two unemployed people will compete for one job contract in each show, and viewers will get to decide who they think is best suited to the post, said Marcus Wolter, program director at the Neun Live channel.

"There might be two hairdressers for example, who have to show how well they treat customers and, of course, how well they can cut hair," he said on Thursday.

Neun Live, a game and quiz show channel, largely finances itself through viewers' phone calls and by selling holidays.

The new show, which will go on air in late autumn has triggered criticism from unions and social organizations.

"Those who want to exploit the unemployed for visual ends are playing with the fears and hopes of people in a shameless and despicable manner," said Walter Hirrlinger, president of the VdK social federation.

Germany's DGB trade union federation told the mass-circulation Bild newspaper finding jobs for the unemployed should rest with professionals and not a TV show.