In 1988, the then Home Secretary Douglas Hurd banned Sinn Féin from the airwaves in response to Irish Republican Army bombing campaigns.
When Ayre became Controller of Editorial Policy he took legal advice and was satisfied that the prohibition could not stop the use of actors' voices to replace the more cumbersome use of subtitling.
He established Britain's first bi-media (television and radio) centre at BBC Millbank, introducing the first digital editing to British network journalism.
In 1995, Ayre played a key part in steering the Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales to air – a decision which infuriated the BBC's then Chairman Marmaduke Hussey.
[6] Reappointed in 2014, Ayre chaired the Editorial Standards committee of the Trust, the final court of appeal for audience complaints about BBC content.