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REALITY television shows are despised by the very people who commission them, a survey of leading British TV executives has revealed.

Despite the schedules being filled with shows such as I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here, Wife Swap and Hell’s Kitchen, more than a quarter of the most powerful people in the industry don’t actually like them. Instead, they prefer American dramas such as The Sopranos.

John Beyer, the director of the viewers’ watchdog Mediawatch UK, said: "This shows just how cynical these people are. They are quite happy to make cheap, low-budget, off-the-shelf stuff which is dressed up as something fabulous, but they don’t want to watch it themselves.

"Instead of all the shows they commission that are made here, they reckon an American one about the Mafia is the best.

"I think it also shows how out of touch they are with their audience when they simply churn out stuff they don’t actually like. There are a lot of good programmes on TV as well as a lot of bad ones, but they sit in their offices thinking that all we want are reality shows."

Channel controllers and the commissioning editors for all the main terrestrial channels as well as the managing director of Sky, Dawn Airey, were surveyed about their lifestyles, likes and dislikes.

They voted the hard-hitting US crime family drama The Sopranos as the top television show . Broadcast late at night on Channel 4 because of its violent content and four-letter dialogue, it nevertheless won 26 per cent of the vote as favourite show.

It was followed by The X-Factor on 16 per cent, while other popular programmes were What Not to Wear, Match of the Day, Little Britain and the British comedy Green Wing.

Six Feet Under and Curb Your Enthusiasm were among other US shows on the list, while the top-rated radio shows included sports programmes on Five Live and Radio 4’s Today.

When asked about their dislikes, 26 per cent of executives admitted they hated reality shows, 9 per cent found sports programmes a turn-off and 7 per cent despised soap operas.

With regard to individual series and shows, 7 per cent said they hated Friends more than any other; A Question of Sport, GMTV and Holiday Showdown were each cited by 5 per cent.

Individual responses in the poll by the trade journal Broadcast were kept anonymous, but at least four executives admitted they did not have digital or cable TV in their home, one said he or she rarely watched TV after 10:30pm and less than half had been to the cinema within the past three months.

The survey also painted a revealing picture of the sort of person who is responsible for what the average TV viewer is faced with when they switch on the box.

More than half lived in north London, particularly Camden and Islington, around a third were aged 30-35 and just over half had children. Almost two-thirds were male, most said their favourite newspaper was the Guardian and President George Bush was the person or thing they would most like to see in Room 101. More than one in ten played tennis, almost half as many claimed to like shooting and one said their favourite hobby was "fine wines".

"The commissioners are the most powerful, feared and sucked-up to people in television," Broadcast said.

"Ahead of next week’s Commissioning Conference we though we’d shed some light on them. They’re an eclectic lot. Never mind that it doesn’t bust the ratings, the No 1 programme by a long shot is the critically acclaimed The Sopranos."