Viewers from minority backgrounds think TV does a poor job at positively depicting the UK's multicultural communities.

More than half of people from black ethnic groups feel they are negatively portrayed on television, new research from Ofcom has found.

Around the same number think black people are under-represented on TV.

By contrast 17% of Asian viewers feel they are negatively portrayed on screen, while one third think they are poorly represented.

The findings are included in a major report from the industry regulator examining viewers' opinions of public service broadcasters (PSBs) such as the BBC and ITV.

PSBs have a statutory responsibility to reflect the diversity of the UK in their output.

Ofcom suggests viewers from a number of demographic groups feel that television does not adequately reflect or represent their lives.

The report suggests that: :: Over a quarter of women aged 55 and over feel under-represented on TV; the equivalent figure for men is 15%.

:: Some 17% of women aged 55 and over feel they are negatively depicted on television, compared with just 9% of men.

:: Young men feel they are portrayed more negatively on TV than young women. Just under a fifth (19%) of men aged 18-34 say television poorly represents their lives, compared with 17% of women.

:: Half of LGB (lesbian, gay and bisexual) people think they are under-represented on television, but just 16% feel they are negatively portrayed.

:: Around 15% of people with disabilities think disabled people are portrayed negatively on TV.

The report also notes that viewers as a whole tend to think minority groups are better represented and more fairly portrayed on television, compared with how people within those groups feel about themselves.