Rural campaigners have called for the BBC to create 'rural programming for the countryside, not just about the countryside' following an impartiality survey.
In a survey of 3,400 people- run by the Countryside Alliance- almost 77% of those taking part said that the licence fee was not value for money, while 68% felt that it should be scrapped altogether.
Almost half of those who took part, who came from rural areas across the UK, were over the age of 65. The largest proportion - 80% - still largely watched the BBC on TV.
Springwatch and Autumnwatch were deemed to be among the worst shows for representing rural issues, with more than 90% of respondents saying that they did not do so adequately.
The BBC’s national news was also found by 92 percent of respondents to be failing to represent rural issues.
It was closely followed by Countryfile, which 89% of viewers surveyed did not feel “adequately” covered the issues that mattered to them.
Even Radio 4’s The Archers, which bills itself as ‘an everyday story of country folk’, was deemed not to reflect country life properly by 79% of respondents.
Farming Today only performed slightly better, with just under half believing it properly covered the issues that mattered to them.
The survey results come after both candidates to be the next prime minister questioned the current arrangements surrounding the licence fee.
Liz Truss has suggested that she would review legal punishments for failing to pay the £159 fee, while Rishi Sunak has hinted he would consider scrapping it all together.
The Countryside Alliance said it would submit the findings of the survey to BBC management as part of a ‘rural impartiality dossier’ and have urged them “not to sweep the findings under the rug”.
Tim Boner, chief executive of the rural group said: “The BBC must appreciate that the minority rural audience does not feel fully represented.
"Rural programming should not only take into account what urban viewers may find of interest and it needs to showcase the value of important rural activities like farming, shooting, hunting and angling.”
The impartiality of Countryfile is reportedly already under scrutiny as part of a BBC review into editorial standards.
The show has received complaints about its stance on Brexit, farming, hunting and environmental issues.
Mr Bonner has called for the corporation to go one step further and extend a crackdown on outspoken presenters - announced last year as part of director general Tim Davie’s drive to improve impartiality - to be extended to all BBC employees.
“The public does not differentiate between BBC presenters on the basis of their contracts,” Mr Bonner said.
“This might make for difficult internal discussions, but ultimately, if the BBC are to enjoy the support of rural viewers it needs to make robust decisions about whether to employ controversial presenters with an overt and aggressive campaigning agenda.”
In response to The Telegraph, a BBC spokesman said: “We always welcome feedback and we’re very proud of the range of programming we provide.
"Programmes such as Countryfile and Farming Today cover a range of topics and views when reporting on farming and rural life across the UK as well as within our news coverage.
“As part of ongoing work to ensure the highest editorial standards across all our output, Countryfile is one of many programmes to be reviewed - it has not been selected because of any particular impartiality concerns.”
