“If there are better services available elsewhere and there is more innovation and there is more choice, then consumers are going to move in that direction, even if that includes piracy,” says Gareth Sutcliffe, from tech researchers Enders Analysis. He says the situation has “become very acute” and had “developed mostly for the worse over the last few years”.

So what, if anything, can solve the issue?

“Innovation is a great response to piracy,” says Sutcliffe. “It addresses the fact that people not only want access, but they may actually want something different because they are moving faster than broadcasters or content owners are moving themselves.”

Gareth Sutcliffe is a leading tech researcher from Enders Analysis, who speaks on a range of topics in the episode, including the role of the Fire TV Stick device. He says that the previous — and still widely used — device made by Amazon “enables piracy” and that it’s “a broadly risky device for consumer safety”.

Sutcliffe says it “provides a very easy path for malware to enter into a home-computing environment”, there were “policies around developing apps for that device that Amazon took a certain position on and broadly got wrong” as they had made “an open computing device” that was a playground for “a whole world of nefarious actors”.

Claire Enders, founder of Enders Analysis, said a new leader should be appointed as soon as possible to "restore the trust there has to be in the BBC for it to survive the charter".

Karen Egan, head of telecoms at Enders Analysis, called the results “something of a mixed bag”, adding: “That they will deliver at the top end of their guidance and feel confident enough to introduce a progressive dividend policy will be taken very positively.”

But public support for the BBC “hasn’t meaningfully changed,” said Claire Enders, founder of the industry research firm Enders Analysis, adding that the broadcaster can’t simply be “abolished.”

Davie did the right thing by standing down, she said, particularly after a string of other controversies such as its coverage of the Glastonbury music festival. The BBC was subject to complaints after airing a set by the punk duo Bob Vylan, during which the musicians led a chant of “death, death to the IDF.” The footage was aired on the BBC’s iPlayer streaming platform.

“The buck stops with him,” Enders said of Davie.

“Few people are habituated to running an organization the size of the BBC,” said Enders.

Claire Enders, a London-based media analyst who is a friend of Mr. Davie’s, said he once told her that his job at the BBC was like opening a Pandora’s box stuffed with unpleasant surprises, every day.

“Every director general has faced these issues,” she said, “but he has faced more of them because, during his tenure, the world has become much more divided.”

“They made a mistake, and when they discovered it, they didn’t own up to it,” Ms. Enders said. “What’s best for the BBC is to have a reset and address these issues. For the BBC to manifest political bias is the most dangerous thing it could do in this world.”

“What’s best for the BBC is to have a reset and address these issues,” said Claire Enders, a media analyst in London. “For the BBC to manifest political bias is the most dangerous thing it could do in this world.”

Claire Enders, of Enders Analysis, said: 'It would be a transformative move by Sky and ITV and it would potentially be a very good fit. It is a daring and very brave move.'

But she suggested it may take 18 months to reach an agreement and get the deal past regulators, with the combined company having a 70 per cent share of the TV advertising market.

Tom Harrington at Enders Analysis says: “There certainly could be remedies, but there is a growing acceptance that the market needs greater collaboration and efficiency to stay resilient – this will aid the argument for consolidation.”

While there is crossover between the ITV audience and Sky subscribers, Tom Harrington, Head of Television at Enders Analysis, said the broader audience will be a much better sell to advertisers. “You’d be enormous in a shrinking market,” he added. “If you have a declining business in many ways and combine it with another [declining] business then suddenly you look a lot bigger. That is better, even if putting them together won’t really arrest what they are facing.”