Hi bigcosmo,On the TMS front, there is nothing to suggest...

Hi bigcosmo,

On the TMS front, there is nothing to suggest anything substantial is under way.

TMS' latest monthly operational cash reports showed a small deterioration in the February position, relative to the year as a whole. The March operational cash report, however, is not due until late April.

On the business front, I would have thought that something would have been reported by now on the US staged exit. Back in September 2002, TMS exited from its US operations in return for a staged payment tied to performance. To date, I haven't seen anything referable to the last 15 months. Maybe its there, but just not so obvious.

In similar territory, nothing has been reported for ~15 months now on the prospective re-zoning of the North Ryde studio complex. If this were to occur, then TMS potentially would collect an additional windfall due to the profit sharing arrangements it struck at the time of selling its North Ryde land and facilities (again, in late 2002). Perhaps, with last weekend's Local Government elections, the pathway is clear for a re-zoning application to be submitted.

Similarly, recent weakness in the share price can be traced to the opening of the Studio City complex at the Docklands in Melbourne. Whilst in direct competition to the Nunawading studios, the fact remains that Studio City is already in trouble, with limited future bookings in place, whilst TMS' Nunawading studios are in full use (due to Neighbours, etc).

I do, however, seem to recall that TMS was originally meant to be part of the Studio City consortium, but pulled out for various reasons.

More likely, the share price action is due to a combination of:
1)
Big Brother nearing its return to TEN (this is a major earner for TMS);
2)
the start of the AFL season (also, a major O/B earner for TMS);
3)
commentary in the AFR earlier this week that Packer is looking at re-negotiating all of his printing contracts (to reduce operational costs), thereby implying that PBL may also be looking at its indoor broadcasting activities (TMS does IB and OB for TEN at a substantial cost saving to broader industry practice, but only does NINE's OB work whereas most of NINE's broadcast activities are IB based);
4)
SEV still struggling with both its programming, operational cost structure and IB /OB commitments, thereby making it a candidate (in the right circumstances) for additional TMS OB work (in particular);
5)
the recent launch of FoxTel DIGITAL with some of the broadcast activities and feed activities being managed via TMS.

At the back of one's mind, there is always the prospective AVV /TMS connection due to Wentworth's involvement in both activities, synergies due to AVV having a small, but prospective OB presence (albeit, not digital) and TMS having a very large and significant digital OB presence (that's where FoxFooty ACTIVE comes into its own, as well as the SPORTS ACTIVE features of NINE's NRL and AFL sports coverage).

Trust that this is of some help.