The ABC and SBS are among the things Australians would most readily cut to balance the budget, according to a survey by Choice magazine.
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The survey showed 26 per cent of respondents selected "public broadcasting" from a list of 16 areas pulled from the news that could potentially be the target of cuts in next month's budget.
Respondents were most protective of hospitals, the aged pension and schools. Support payments for students and families (as well as for childcare payments as a separate expenditure) were also supported in preference to the public broadcasters. Indeed, only cuts to unemployment benefits (27 per cent) were more readily accepted.
The survey results are in spite of longstanding support for public broadcasting among Australians. In 2013, Newspoll found that 85 per cent believed the ABC provided a "valuable" service to the community, with more than half rating it "very valuable".
The Choice survey, which was conducted late last month, comes as the government prepares to deliver its 2015-16 budget, expected on May 12.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has declared the budget will be "pretty dull", after controversy about last year's effort. Nevertheless, about two-thirds of respondents were "concerned" or "very concerned" about the impact of the budget on their lives.
Nearly seven out of 10 respondents to Choice's survey agreed the budget was under pressure, including 22 per cent who agreed that Australia faces a "budget emergency" that requires "immediate and significant actions to reduce".
But Choice chief executive Alan Kirkland emphasised the 45 per cent who, while acknowledging something needed to be done, called for action only in the next five to 10 years. An additional 17 per cent felt the budget was in good shape.
He said the overall message from the survey was that Australians wanted a "measured approach".
"There's a large group of people who think things should be about the same," he said.
The cost of electricity continued to trouble Australians, with 78 per cent placing it as their top cost-of-living concern, followed closely by food and groceries (75 per cent). People were less concerned about the cost of fuel, which once rivalled electricity. Just 68 per cent listed it as a concern.
The average price for unleaded fuel in Melbourne fell as low as $1.08 a litre in January, but has increased by about 20¢ a litre since.
