The BBC is facing an uphill battle to maintain support for the licence fee, according to a new survey that shows almost half the population do not find it value for money.

A new Ipsos Mori poll for MediaGuardian also shows that the further north you live, the less likely you are to feel that the licence fee is an appropriate way of funding the BBC. The same is true of those in lower socioeconomic groups.

As media regulator Ofcom prepares to unveil the next phase of its wide-ranging public service broadcasting review, the results will prove troubling for BBC executives who have previously argued that the licence fee retains widespread support.

The poll suggests that while viewers enjoy the corporation's programmes - BBC1 is by some distance the most popular channel - a large proportion do not feel the licence fee is good value for money or an appropriate way of funding the BBC.

According to the figures, 41% agree that the licence fee is an "appropriate" funding mechanism and 37% disagree. But asked whether the licence fee is "good value for money", 47% disagree, with more than half of those disagreeing strongly.

Nor do the majority of people believe the licence fee ensures the provision of distinctive programming not available elsewhere - long one of the key arguments for its existence. Forty-one per cent of the population disagreed, with 30% agreeing.

The BBC Trust chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, last year commissioned research that showed viewers wanted the BBC to be more innovative.

The devil is in the detail for the BBC, with the survey confirming it is losing the support of swaths of the population and revealing a growing north-south divide. In Scotland, 35% of people believe the licence fee is an appropriate funding mechanism but 47% disagree. In the north of England, 37% agree and 44% disagree. But in London, 41% agree and 28% disagree.

While 56% of those classified in the higher-earning AB socioeconomic group believe the licence fee is an appropriate way of funding the BBC, that falls to 32% among those classified as DE. And while 61% of broadsheet readers agree, the figures fall to 36% among tabloid readers.

It has long been argued by its opponents that the case for the licence fee, which costs £139.50 a year and brings in £3.37bn annually, will be difficult to sustain in a fragmented digital age as the amount of time people spend consuming BBC programmes declines.

Conversely, the BBC argues it has a more important role than ever in bringing high-quality public service content to a wide audience. Director general Mark Thompson has also sought to broaden the justification for the universal licence fee, pointing to the BBC's impact on the economy, its global reputation and its role in British cultural life.