The BBC Trust could be scrapped and replaced by Ofcom within two years, according to plans being considered by the Government.
The Trust, which is tasked with overseeing editorial standards and value for money, has haplessly lurched from one crisis to another over recent years.
Setting aside sexual abuse scandals for a moment, the BBC has faced particularly swingeing criticism over bumper executive pay-offs, gold-plated pensions and general frivolity in the way it spends public money.
In recent months the Trust has faced increasingly probing questions over the manner in which it has apparently suppressed the release of the much-anticipated Dame Janet Smith Review into historic cases of sexual abuse within the BBC.
In its recent report on the Future of the BBC, the influencial House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee raised concerns about a lack of transparency, nepotism and cronyism at the top of the BBC.
Culture Secretary John Whittingdale MP, an outspoken critic of the BBC, is currently considering the future shape of the Corporation when its Royal Charter comes up for renewal on 31st December 2016.
Also on the table is the realistic prospect of decriminalisation of TV licence fee evasion.