Press Releases
Make Cable Better
http://makecablebetter.org
Group Urges Change In Cable Law
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090224/METRO/902240377
MI-Natoa Releases "The Ten Disappointments About Cable"
Read the Press Release | The Ten Disappointments of Cable
Dearborn Heights want AT&T to pay for product start up:
http://www.pressandguide.com/stories/110208/loc_20081102003.shtml
Warren Hires new Communication Director:
http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2008/12/06/news/srv0000004217650.txt
FCC reports there is time to get DTV Transition right:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-287163A1.pdf
FCC Deception and Distrust under Martin
http://energycommerce.house.gov/images/stories/Documents/PDF/Newsroom/fcc%20majority%20staff%20report%20081209.pdf
Meridian Township, MI, December 3, 2008 - Meridian Township officials will join Governor Jennifer M. Granholm on Thursday, December 4, 2008, to announce that the township is one of eight communities being awarded a grant from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Meridian Township applied for the $25,000 grant, as part of the Centers for Regional Excellence Program. With the state funds, the township plans to work with Comcast to connect the East Lansing/Meridian and Lansing public access operations. This would allow Meridian Township*s HOM-TV 21 to playback local programming and independent productions in the mid-Michigan region on a public access channel.
*We have heard from a number of communities that are interested in joining with us to develop a Regional public access channel so locally-produced programs can be viewed in their respective areas,* said Deborah Guthrie, HOM-TV Station Manager in Meridian Township. Since 2007, Comcast has directed public access producers to send their videotapes and programs to the cable provider*s Southfield office for playback. However, many of the municipalities support HOM-TV in playing programs produced in greater Lansing also served by Comcast, from their local facility. The long term vision would be the creation of a Regional Community Media Center where local producers can create programming that would be viewable on cable in multiple communities.
*With the awarding of this grant, Meridian Township can begin the process of inter-connecting public access programming across mid-Michigan,* said Susan McGillicuddy, Meridian Township's Supervisor. *A number of communities believe we can work together to provide our communities with local access and allow us to work with businesses, non-profits, schools, and local governments.*
It is with the collaborative help of Comcast that makes this possible. In a letter dated October 8 by Senior Director of Government Affairs Leslie Brogan to Township Assistant Manager Paul Brake, she stated; *Comcast is agreeable in principle to an interconnection for the purpose of shared public access programming among the communities of the East Lansing/Meridian and the Lansing Comcast cable systems.* *Without the support from Comcast, this would not be possible. We needed all of the parties to come together to make this happen. We appreciate their cooperation and we look forward to working with them on this project* said Paul Brake.
HOM-TV 21 already airs several programs to cable subscribers in Meridian Township, including Open Line, On the Agenda, Meridian Magazine, 21 Fun Factory, among others.
Governor Granholm announced the grant opportunity through the Centers for Regional Excellence program in July, to encourage local governments to work collaboratively to make their communities better places to live, work, and play and to use tax dollars more effectively. The grant will allow Meridian Township to be ready to purchase the equipment needed to playback local productions and interconnect the community with the cities of Lansing and East Lansing within the next two years.
Supervisor McGillicuddy along with Meridian Township Assistant Manager Paul Brake and HOM-TV Station Manager Deborah Guthrie are available for interviews. For more information contact Paul Brake at (517) 853-4206.