The middle-aged faces that go missing on our television screens

While we rightly need a great deal of debate about how to finance and manage the care of an increasingly elderly population, we can too easily equate that wise and important group with simply

being "problematic", maybe because we don't see enough examples around us of the positive contribution they make to society.

Sometimes forgetful and occasionally moody are not characteristics exclusive to any one age group. That's one reason why more varied and upbeat images are needed of those who are middle-aged and beyond. When it comes to the public perception of the older person it is television, more than any other medium, which is the prism, but according to a new study it is reflecting back to us a demographic weighted in favour of youth.

BBC1 has shown a lower proportion of older talent on the channel than its commercial rival ITV1, according to research just published.

A week-long survey found that one in five or 20 per cent of presenters and actors seen on BBC1 were aged over 50, compared with 27 per cent on ITV1. The commercial channel also featured more over-50s on its news and current affairs programmes than BBC1 – 31 per cent versus BBC1's 28 per cent.

BBC2 came out top following research into BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five in terms of how often older faces were seen. Researchers found 37 per cent of actors and presenters shown on BBC2 were in the over-50 age group, while on Channel 4, the figure was 12 per cent.

Five had none, although researchers only observed 16 people due to a high number of programmes which had to be excluded from the survey, including films and imports.

Of the male presenters and actors on BBC1, 22 per cent were found to be over 50. This figure dropped to 18 per cent for their female

equivalents. On ITV1 29 per cent of male presenters and actors screened were over 50 compared with 24 per cent in the female category for the channel.

The survey was commissioned by residential care provider Anchor, whose chief executive Jane Ashcroft said: "It is scandalous that the over-50s are not represented more fairly on television, particularly when they are the fastest growing demographic in this country. Rather than condemning older presenters and actors to the scrap heap, it is time for television executives to embrace the wealth of talent and experience they can offer."

The BBC denied accusations of ageism after replacing Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips with former winner Alesha Dixon, and in September, it was revealed that the BBC was seeking an older female newsreader. Researchers also polled 1,020 adults online to examine perceptions of older people. From a list of 11 shows, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Deal or No Deal were the most favoured in their depictions of older people. Top Gear and The X-Factor were perceived most unfavourably.

BBC presenter Sir David Attenborough, 84, came out top as the media personality portraying older people most positively, followed by Sir Trevor McDonald and Strictly Come Dancing host Bruce Forsyth.

Game shows were more likely than other categories of programme to be fronted by people aged 50, and almost a third of presenters were aged 65 or over, with threequarters aged 50 or over, including John Humphrys, Anne Robinson, Jeremy Paxman, Jeff Stelling and Noel Edmonds.

A BBC spokesman said: "While we welcome any research into our output, and are pleased that BBC2 has been identified as having the highest representation of older people in UK broadcast media, we do not believe that a one-week sample study is an accurate reflection of the BBC's output throughout the year. The reality is that we have a very wide range of artists on the BBC including presenters and actors such as Sheila Hancock, Arlene Phillips (who returned to the BBC in another dance series recently), Sir David Attenborough and Julia Somerville as well as other new faces who we hope will be with us for years to come."

"This business of television ageism is a strange one," says 61-year-old actor, novelist and Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes. "It is as if they were ashamed of their own audience. The BBC admits that the average viewer is 55 years old, and yet there are hardly any men presenting programmes or reading the news above the middle 40s, and women are generally sent packing much sooner than that.

"Not only is this insulting and demeaning, demonstrating clearly that the television companies do not value their core audience, but it also undermines the important contribution to British life that older men and women make."

Michelle Mitchell, director of the charity Age Concern and Help the Aged Charity said: "TV has become out of touch with the tastes of an ageing audience. There is growing evidence that older viewers are being increasingly put off by programming that not only doesn't meet their tastes but is also reluctant to show grey hair on screen.

"Our research shows the majority of viewers think older women are discriminated against in television and would be happy to see more older women reading the news. It is crystal clear that the audience is expecting a more honest portrait of our society on TV and producers should be working to achieve this."