18 December 2012 Last updated at 09:34 ET

Czech Republic profile

• Overview
• Facts
• Leaders
• Media
• Timeline
• Czechoslovakia Timeline

Czech readers have access to a variety of dailies

Private radio and TV stations provide stiff competition for their public rivals.

Public broadcaster Ceska Televize (CT) operates two TV networks and a 24-hour news channel. Public radio, Cesky Rozhlas (CRo), operates three national networks and local services.

Leading private TV channels Nova and Prima are foreign-owned and broadcast nationally. There are scores of privately-owned radio stations, including market leaders Impuls and Frekvence 1. BBC World Service is available on FM in many cities and towns.

Press freedom is protected by a charter of basic rights.

Around 7.4 million Czechs were online by June 2012 (Internetworldstats.com). Facebook is the leading social media platform.

The press

• Lidove Noviny - Prague-based national daily, former dissident publication
• Mlada Fronta Dnes - Prague-based national daily
• Pravo - Prague-based national daily
• Blesk - Prague-based tabloid daily
• The Prague Post - English-language

Television

• Czech TV - public, operates mainstream CT1 and cultural channel CT2
• CT 24 - public, news
• TV Nova - private
• Prima - private

Radio

• Czech Radio - public; runs national/regional networks and external service Radio Prague
• Frekvence 1 - private, national
• Radio Impuls - private, national
• Evropa 2 - private, national

News agency/internet

• CTK - English-language pages
• Prague Daily Monitor - news portal, in English