If his intention had been to provoke the wrath of female colleagues, then he won't be disappointed.

Yesterday, Jeremy Paxman was at it again, this time rattling a hornet's nest by suggesting it is men who are being discriminated against at the BBC.

During an Edinburgh International Television Festival debate about equality in the industry, the Newsnight presenter suggested white, middle-class men were overlooked in favour of women by his employer.

Paxman, 58, said: "Do I think it's a man's world in television? That is the most ridiculous question I have been asked all week.

"The worst thing you can be in this industry is a middle-class white male. If any middle-class white male I come across says he wants to enter television, I say give up all hope. They've no chance."

The female executives Paxman referred to are: Jana Bennett, director of BBC Vision; Janice Hadlow, controller of BBC 4; Dorothy Byrne, head of news, current affairs and documentaries at Channel 4; Jay Hunt, controller of BBC 1 and Dawn Airey, soon-to-be chief executive and chairwoman of Five.

Paxman's controversial comments were made in a pre-recorded contribution to the debate because he was unable to be present in person. Given what he said, maybe that was just as well.

Panel member broadcaster Mariella Frostrup was having none of it. She dismissed the political interviewer's comments out of hand.

Frostrup, who said she was once told by a male producer her breastfeeding schedule was "inconvenient" for the BBC show she was working on, said: "He lists five women because he couldn't possibly name the men in positions of power in TV because he would be there all bloody day.

"He talks about middle-class white men being a beleaguered species on television. Well, excuse me, but Jonathan Ross, Jeremy on Newsnight. Look at the Today programme, Have I Got News For You, Newsnight.

"It seems to me that TV is a fantastic place for middle-class white males. They are very much judged to be the people imbued with a sort of gravitas that women are still struggling to achieve."

Frostrup said she once asked a producer on QI, presented by Stephen Fry, why there were so few women on the quiz show. He told her "there just aren't any intelligent women out there".

Frostrup said: "That's what you're up against. It's that sort of assumption. When you come to talent on screen, that's the problem."

However, BBC 1 controller Jay Hunt said male viewers did feel there was not enough for them to watch on TV.

She said: "I do think there's quite a profound sense among male viewers that they have been disenfranchised by television.

"There's a Jeremy Paxman-esque malaise amongst male viewers who feel they haven't got anywhere else to goI'm not sure what it's about."

The controversy comes days after the outspoken news presenter angered Burns lovers by describing Scotland's national bard as "no more than a king of sentimental doggerel".

The Herald revealed Paxman's dismissal of the great poet in an introduction to the new edition of the Chambers Dictionary, which is to be published later this month.

The Newsnight presenter, and author, also drew criticism in the past over his comments about Scots. A total of 20 MPs signed a Commons motion condemning the journalist for comparing the dominance of Scots at Westminster to British rule in India.