October 24th, 2008

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

I am writing to you today about MNN's Community Media Grant Program.

As you may know, MNN receives the majority of it's funding through the cable

franchise process. This is where cable service providers like Time Warner

and Cablevision pay a fee to the City of New York, and agree to support

local Public, Educational and Government (PEG) access channels, in return

for using the public rights of way to deliver cable to homes around the

city.

The support MNN gets from the cable providers is how we maintain our center,

operate our channels, and provide training, equipment and studio access to

Manhattan residents and groups. This support has also funded MNN's Community

Media Grant Program for the last fifteen years.

The City's cable franchises are up for renewal this year. But right now this

renewal process has been taking longer than expected. As such, MNN will have

to delay the 2009 Community Media Grant process for the time being.

Hopefully, the cable franchising process will be completed by early 2009.

We will keep you posted.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call Betty Yu, the

Director of Community Outreach & Media at (212) 757-2670 x346 or email her

at betty@mnn.org.

Thanks so much for your patience and understanding. Again, we will keep you

posted as soon as we hear anything.

Sincerely,

Dan Coughlin,

Executive Director

Manhattan Neighborhood Network