26 July 2012 Last updated at 16:40 ET

Nigeria profile

• Overview
• Facts
• Leaders
• Media
• Timeline

Nigeria has a lively press scene, with more than 100 national and local titles

Nigeria's media scene is one of the most vibrant in Africa. State radio and TV have near-national coverage and operate at federal and regional levels. All 36 states run at least one radio network and a TV station.

According to the broadcasting regulator, there are 100 radio stations and 147 terrestrial TV stations, as well as cable and direct-to-home satellite offerings.

Radio is a key source of information. International broadcasters, including the BBC, are popular. However, rebroadcasts of foreign radios are banned.

Television viewing is concentrated in urban areas. Legislation limits the amount of foreign programming that stations can show, and outlets cannot air foreign news.

The state TV says it reaches more than 90 million viewers. However, privately-owned Galaxy TV, Silver Bird TV and AIT are the leading stations in some urban areas.

There are more than 100 national and local press titles, some of them state-owned. They include well-respected dailies, tabloids and publications which champion ethnic interests. The lively private press often criticises the government.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Nigeria 126th out of 179 countries in its 2012 world press freedom index. The watchdog cites the "almost daily arrests and assaults" of journalists.

Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group, has threatened the media. In April 2012, it bombed newspaper offices in Abuja and Kaduna.

By December 2011, more than 45 million Nigerians were online - around 29% of the population (via Internetworldstats.com). Mobile phones are an important point of access to the web.

Most internet users are young, educated and urban. Facebook is the most popular social media platform, and BBC Hausa's Facebook page is a popular destination.

Press

• The Guardian - influential, Lagos-based privately-owned national daily
• The Champion - Lagos-based daily
• The Punch - privately-owned daily
• New Nigerian - government daily, separate editions in Lagos and Kaduna
• Daily Independent - Lagos State-based daily
• Daily Trust - Abuja-based daily
• Leadership - Abuja-based daily
• Vanguard - Lagos-based, widely-read daily
• This Day - widely-read Lagos-based daily
• The Daily Sun - Lagos-based
• Newswatch - weekly news magazine
• Tell - news weekly

Television

• Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) - state-run, operates scores of national and regional stations; national services broadcast in English
• AIT - private, owned by DAAR Communications, broadcasting in Lagos, Abuja and internationally via satellite
• Minaj TV - private, eastern Nigeria and via cable/satellite
• Silverbird TV - private, Lagos, Port Harcourt
• Galaxy TV - private, western Nigeria
• Channels TV - private
• NN24 - private, 24-hour news

Radio

• Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) - state-run, operates 37 stations broadcasting in 15 languages
• Voice of Nigeria - FRCN's external service, via shortwave
• Ray Power - private, owned by DAAR Communications, runs music-based and speech-based FM stations
• Freedom Radio - private, Kano

News agency

• News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) - government-owned