BERLIN?The producers of one of Germany's most popular TV programs said Monday the show would go on despite a horrific accident during a live broadcast watched by millions.

"Wetten, dass...?" ("Wanna bet?"), shown on public channel ZDF six or seven times each year, sees members of the public attempt daring feats, interspersed with celebrity chat, and regularly attracts some 10 million viewers.

ZDF program director Thomas Bellut said the show would now do more to protect its contestants after 23-year-old Samuel Koch suffered serious injuries during a prime-time broadcast Saturday.

"'Wetten, dass' will certainly continue," he told public radio.

"We will boost our safety standards once again although we were always of the opinion that they could hardly be more stringent."

During the live show from the western city of Duesseldorf, Koch had attempted to leap lengthways over a moving car wearing spring-loaded stilts.

But he crash landed and was next seen lying motionless face-down on the floor as the audience looked on in horror.

Host Thomas Gottschalk called off the show, a national institution, for the first time in its 29-year history as Koch was rushed to hospital. Guests including Cher, British band Take That, and Canadian heart-throb Justin Bieber were sent home.

Take That singer Robbie Williams asked Gottschalk to keep him posted on Koch's condition, his music label Universal said Monday.

And Bieber said in a Twitter message that he was sorry he could not appear "but some things are more important than putting on a show."

"Please pray for Samuel Koch and his family as we wait and hope for his health and safety," he wrote.

ZDF said Sunday that Koch had suffered serious spinal injuries and been put into an artificial coma after doctors operated on him for two and a half hours.

A hospital spokeswoman said Monday that he was still in a critical condition.

Critics say the show's stunts have become more and more dangerous over the years as ZDF has battled for viewers.

"Even if the contestant gets better, as hopefully he will, there will definitely be consequences from this accident," the influential Spiegel magazine said on its website.

Bellut denied that a race for top ratings had made the show reckless.

"Whether we have one or two million viewers more or less is not a decisive factor for us," Bellut said.