The clumsy handling of the Mandela release typified the problems of a state-run network confronted by epic change.

Instead, the state-run network was plunged into turmoil after the Government dismissed its director early in January, and the news staff walked out in protest.

The growth is remarkable considering that Greece was introduced to television only in 1968, when the rightist military dictatorship set up the country's two state-run networks.

On the national level, the Nigerian Television Authority, the state-run network, does not have the money to buy many American television programs.

In Cuba, bootlegged versions of the film were shown in 120 theaters, followed by a prime-time television broadcast by the leading state-run network.

The recession of the Colombian economy during the late 1990s weakened the state-run networks and the programadoras.

There are two state-run networks and more than a dozen private stations.

Private stations operate alongside state-run networks.

They also barred foreign broadcasters from recording and transmitting news reports by China's state-run network.

On both private satellite channels and state-run national networks, the plight of the Palestinians - portrayed as the victims of barbaric Israeli aggression - has saturated the news.