It is hard to credit the shambles at ITV. Corporate governance at the UK broadcaster has all but collapsed. It is a terrible indictment of Michael Grade’s reign as executive chairman that the company is unable to attract new tenants for its c-suite. With Sir Michael Bishop withdrawing his candidacy for the chairmanship, headhunter Russell Reynolds is again back to square one, days after Sir Crispin Davis, the previous favoured candidate, also left it in the lurch. How the headhunter must wish it had never won this mandate, which over the past six months has turned into a dismal advertisement for its capabilities.

Sacking these “thought leaders” in recruitment must be tempting for the nominations committee. In addition to having to find a new chairman and a new chief executive, it now also needs a new chief operating officer. The saintly John Cresswell, who on Monday agreed to become acting chief executive after being passed over as a candidate for the job in his own right, is to quit once the broadcaster finds a permanent occupant for the post. He alone emerges from this mess with his reputation and dignity intact. Even so, at this rate, ITV will be stuck with a lame duck for some time.