The French broadcast regulator has demanded a meeting with the management of troubled Canal+ news channel iTélé this afternoon following the departure of nearly 100 journalists from the station.

The mass exit is the latest development in an ongoing crisis at iTélé following a change of editorial strategy under the management of Vincent Bolloré, chairman of Canal+ parent Vivendi.

Staff staged a 31-day strike ^[1] through October and November last year, one of the longest in French broadcasting history.

Now regulatory body the CSA will seek answers from the station’s management after more than half the channel’s editorial staff left their jobs.

The workforce has disagreed with the channel’s move into more ‘infotainment’ programming. It also objected to the launch of a show hosted by a controversial presenter close to Bolloré, Jean-Marc Morandini, who is the subject of legal investigations into claims of corruption of minors, undeclared work and sexual harassment.

The station’s journalists have demanding the appointment of an editorial director, separate from the channel’s MD, to ensure editorial independence from advertisers. Both functions are currently performed by Serge Nedjar, who was chosen by Bolloré.

Management responded to this by inviting journalists to leave in return for a pay-off if they were unhappy with the channel’s direction.

Following the strike and intervention by CSA, management agreed to the appointment of a separate news director and to limit the infotainment drive to 10% of the schedule. It also increased the proposed pay-off to those wishing to leave.

A total of 98 have done just that out of a workforce of 180, which includes 120 journalists.

The rebranding of iTélé as CNews has been postponed and the channel has been mostly re-running old news for the past three months, with no fresh content at all during the Christmas period.

Rumours about high-profile host appointments abound but no replacements have been made and audiences are in sharp decline.

iTélé holds a terrestrial licence, which means it is committed to fulfilling obligations laid down by the CSA, which is now seeking more information about the channel’s plan to address its problems.