As the elderly shareholder approached the stage, Sir James Crosby turned to him and smiled. Minutes earlier, Crosby had been elected chairman of Misys, the £1 billion software provider to the banking and healthcare industries.

It wasn’t a flashy company but Crosby didn’t care. After the collapse of HBOS, where he had been chief executive, he was determined to build a portfolio career of different roles — with a lower profile.

There was little chance of that, however, as he was about to be reminded. “When are you going to get someone new in at ITV?” the Misys shareholder asked, shaking Crosby’s hand.

That was Day 160, or a clear five months since executive chairman Michael Grade had announced he was stepping back from a full-time role at ITV. Crosby, 53, as the senior independent director at the broadcaster, was charged with finding someone to take over. Today is Day 178 — with no resolution in sight.

ITV never does anything without receiving intense scrutiny. But in the past few weeks, the drama has turned into slapstick comedy. Even Sir Dominic Cadbury, Misys’s outgoing chairman, joked that Crosby had tried to interest him in an ITV job over dinner earlier that week.

“It has been a complete shambles,” said one shareholder. When talks to recruit the former BSkyB boss Tony Ball as chief executive collapsed, Grade announced he would leave as soon as possible.

It was then that the search turned to finding a chairman. But two leading candidates have also declined that poisoned chalice — first, Sir Crispin Davis, the former Reed Elsevier boss, and then Sir Michael Bishop, the BMI British Midland tycoon.

The hole at the top has widened and may take until next year to fill. John Cresswell, the chief operating officer who steadied the ship three years ago between Charles Allen’s exit and Grade’s arrival, agreed to do the same again but then plans to leave because Crosby passed him over for the top job.

Insiders say Rupert Howell, the commercial director, and Peter Fincham, the director of television, also feel ill-treated by Crosby. They could eventually go as well, with Fincham being linked to the vacant chief executive’s role at Channel 4.

“He’s a good man,” Grade said of Cresswell. “We have worked together extremely well for three years.”

When Grade was asked if he would comment on how the board had handled the search, he shot back “no thanks”.

The chaos is all the more surprising when the make-up of ITV’s board is considered. It is not short of people who have notched up considerable achievements in long careers.

Andy Haste, who runs RSA, brought the insurer back from the brink. Sir George Russell, who is 74 next week, has graced a dozen boardrooms and led the venture-capital company 3i on to the stock market. Fund managers fondly remember how Mike Clasper squeezed a sky-high price from the Spanish buyer of BAA, the airports operator, when he was its chief executive.

However, some analysts think the board lacks an intuitive feel for how a media company should be run. The truth is more prosaic. A dangerous rift has developed that means the board has struggled to reach a consensus, which may have muddled the brief it gave to Rae Sedel, the experienced headhunter at Russell Reynolds tasked with finding a new chief executive for ITV.

When Crosby tried to come up with a bumper pay package to satisfy Ball, he found it difficult to carry his fellow directors with him. Russell and Baroness (Usha) Prashar dug in their heels. Those who backed Simon Fox, the HMV boss, are still smarting that his name leaked out, enabling shareholders to persuade him to stay at the retailer.

The scars are unlikely to heal as ITV turns its attention to finding a chairman. Investors suggest the new arrival must clear out the non-executives. The idea is circulating that they should offer their resignations as a gift to the new chairman. At the very least, shareholders want them all put up for re-election at next May’s annual meeting. By then, several, including Crosby, already thoroughly fed up, are expected to go of their own volition.

The trouble is, ITV’s board has already been made over. Grade’s reign saw the departure of old stagers such as Sir Brian Pitman, the banking veteran, and John McGrath, who was at Diageo and Boots.

New blood arrived in the shape of Agnes Touraine, who once ran Vivendi’s books business, and Heather Killen, an Australian venture capitalist who was once at Yahoo.

“She is incredibly decisive,” said one person who knows Killen. “I am amazed by this [chaos]. Heather doesn’t stand any nonsense.”

John Ormerod, who was a member of HBOS’s audit and retail risk control committees and sits alongside Crosby at Misys, makes up the eight-strong non-executive team.

Board sources admit the process of finding new leaders has taken far longer than expected. Part of the problem was unpicking Grade’s dual role as chairman and chief executive.

But they also blame shareholders, some of whom ordered Crosby to rule out internal candidates and campaigned long and hard for Ball.

The company is in talks with a few prospective candidates for the chairman’s role. Headhunters say that parachuting in a “dream ticket” duo is a possibility.

Investors hope that whoever is drafted in is accompanied by a change of tack. “A strategy that focuses on free-to-air television is too narrowly defined,” said one. “There is limited online activity and having a production and broadcast division that sell to each other means there is no creative tension.”

Despite the hubbub, Ian Griffiths, the finance director, has been taking care of business with aplomb. The latest convertible bond offering cuts out the need for a rights issue, leaving ITV with nothing to repay until 2011 (£140m) and 2013 (£235m).

Mortgaging SDN, ITV’s Freeview slots owner, to the pension fund will reduce the £538m deficit, as will capping future benefits for scheme members. On screen, new series of Doc Martin and Benidorm have achieved good ratings and even the advertising market has improved.

One source said: “Staff talk about the boardroom stuff round the watercooler but it doesn’t affect their day-to-day activities.”

If only Crosby, and the rest of his colleagues, could say the same.

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive