Agnès Vahramian, senior reporter for France Télévisions, will take over as head of radio franceinfo from September 16, replacing Jean-Philippe Baille who is leaving for RMC BFM, Radio France announced on Tuesday.
France Bleu director Céline Pigalle will add a string to her bow: she will become deputy editorial director in charge of news and proximity at Radio France, while retaining her role at the head of the network of 44 local stations, Radio France added.
This double appointment comes a little over a month after the announcement of the departure of Jean-Philippe Baille, who has combined the roles of director of Franceinfo and director of information for the public group since September 2023, and will become deputy general director of information for RMC BFM.
Known to viewers of France 2, where she has worked for 30 years, Agnès Vahramian was until recently France Télé’s correspondent in the Middle East, after covering the war in Ukraine and being a correspondent in the United States.
In the 2010s, she also held the positions of editor-in-chief of “Envoyé Spécial”, deputy editorial director of France 2 and editor-in-chief of the 8 p.m. news presented by David Pujadas.
She is preparing to take the reins of France’s third-largest radio station, where she will put to good use her “dual experience of field reporting and management,” according to Radio France.
For her part, Céline Pigalle, former editorial director of BFMTV who arrived in April 2023 at the head of France Bleu to restore flagging audiences, will have the mission of “coordinating the work of all the editorial teams” of the Maison ronde.
She will also monitor “the progress of cooperation projects” with France Télé such as the Ici brand, which is supposed to bring together France Bleu and France 3.
Céline Pigalle will work closely with Radio France’s new editorial director, Vincent Meslet, whose appointment was announced in June to replace Laurence Bloch, who is retiring.
Former general director of Newen France (a subsidiary of TF1) who worked at France 3, France 2 and Arte, he “devoted most of his career” to public service and designed content as varied as the soap opera “Plus belle la vie”, the shows “Ce soir ou Jamais” and “28 minutes”.
