Paris (France) (AFP) – Adèle Van Reeth will leave the management of France Inter at the beginning of March, the leading national radio station in terms of audiences, replaced by Céline Pigalle as part of a reorganization in the run-up to the 2027 presidential election, the public group Radio France announced on Thursday.

Published on: 05/02/2026 - 12:17

Arriving in 2022 at the head of the radio, Adèle Van Reeth "expressed her wish to return to the air next season" and "agreed to anticipate her departure (...) so that the preparation for the 2026-2027 school year can be done in the best conditions", indicates the group.

The announcement comes amid turmoil for public broadcasting, scrutinized by a parliamentary commission of inquiry into its "financing" and its "neutrality", created in the wake of the controversy triggered by the broadcast of a video showing journalists Thomas Legrand and Patrick Cohen at the restaurant with officials of the Socialist Party.

The Radio France press release was broadcast at the time when the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, who has oversight of public broadcasting, was being heard by parliamentarians.

Céline Pigalle will replace Adèle Van Reeth after having led the ICI local radio network since April 2023 and having been director of information at Radio France since September 2024. The reorganization provides for her replacement by Laurent Guimier at ICI, while Agnès Vahramian, who has been a senior reporter and who directs franceinfo, will also become director of information for the group.

During her mandate, Adèle Van Reeth consolidated France Inter's place as the leading radio station in France, with more than 7 million daily listeners. But the station experienced a drop at the start of the 2025 school year (458,000 fewer listeners in one year in September-October), which has since been partially recovered.

In November, the bodies representing the different professions of France Inter - journalists, producers, technicians - estimated that the radio was "losing its soul", in a letter sent to Adèle Van Reeth. The radio's director of news, Philippe Corbé, also announced his departure in January, to take over as head of news at France Télévisions.

© 2026 AFP

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