Lens Letter to Metromedia

September 29, 2000


Mr. Stuart Subotnick
Chief Executive Officer
Metromedia International Group
One Meadowlands Plaza
East Rutherford, NJ 07073

Dear Mr. Subotnick:

As a representative of significant shareholdings in Metromedia International Group, I am writing to express our profound disappointment with the ability of the company's current Board and management to maximize the substantial value we feel is represented in the firm's assets.

As you know, the share price is now trading near its all-time low and significantly below its trading range early this year. More importantly, the company's total shareholder return from September 27, 1995, to September 27, 2000, has been -80.5%. By comparison, during the same period the total return of the S&P 500 (with gross dividends reinvested) has been +166.5%. The total return of the NASDAQ Telecomm Index, which the company considers as its peer group, has been +242.5% during that same five-year period.

Such destruction in value should be expected to lead to dramatic action by management, and if not, then by shareholders. Indeed, shareholders are restless. One of the company's largest shareholders, Snyder Capital Management, has filed a 13-D recommending a specific course of action to remedy the situation. And at this year's annual meeting, a resolution to increase shareholders' powers proposed by New York City Teachers' Retirement System received nearly 42% of the votes cast.

It appears that Metromedia International's current business represents a severe misaggregation of assets. At a minimum, steps ought to be taken immediately to sell or spin off the Snapper division, which you recognize as non-core to the company's strategic direction.

Management appears insulated. The lack of communication to shareholders is extraordinary. Indeed, despite your very recent commitment to meetings with investors, it has seemed a struggle to get the company to adopt basic mechanisms of investor relations. The September meeting was the first that allowed call-in participation, yet our analyst was told that the simple, widely-accepted practice of accessing a tape recording of the meeting after the fact was not followed.

Additionally, we are disappointed in the lack of progress in getting "street" coverage of the company. We believe that the opacity of the company's financial statements is contributing to the difficulty in getting coverage. Wouldn't it be helpful for the company to explore ways to make its financial statements more decipherable to the investment and analytical community?

We are troubled by the composition of the Board of Directors, where five of the nine seats are occupied by employees or affiliates. We believe that a company's Board is the appropriate authority to voice shareholders' concerns and to hold management accountable to shareholders' interests. Such oversight cannot work at Metromedia International with the existing insider-dominated Board. We would like to see the Board's composition changed so that shareholders may be assured of a majority of independent directors, accountable to us and not to management. Specifically, we would like to see the selection of outstanding and credible new outside directors, made with the assistance of an established search firm.

We would like to meet with you within the next two weeks. We view this meeting as a constructive opportunity to express our concerns in greater detail to you and to hear your response.

Sincerely yours,



Richard A. Bennett