[GRAPHIC OMITTED]
[LOGO]
THE GABELLI
GLOBAL
MULTIMEDIA
TRUST INC.
Third Quarter Report
September 30, 1999
<PAGE>
[LOGO]
THE GABELLI
GLOBAL
MULTIMEDIA
TRUST INC.
Our cover icon represents the underpinnings of Gabelli. The Teton
mountains in Wyoming represent what we believe in in America -- that
creativity, ingenuity, hard work and a global uniqueness provide enduring
values. They also stand out in an increasingly complex, interconnected and
interdependent economic world.
* * * * *
Morningstar Rating(TM) of The Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust Inc.
was 5 stars overall and for the three year period ended 9/30/99
among 55 domestic equity funds.
Investment Objective:
The Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust Inc. is a closed-end, non-diversified
management investment company whose primary objective is long-term growth of
capital, with income as a secondary objective. The Fund seeks opportunities for
long-term growth within the context of two main investment universes: companies
involved in creativity, as it relates to the development of intellectual
property rights (copyrights); and companies involved in distribution, as it
relates to the delivery of these copyrights. Additionally, the Fund will invest
in companies participating in emerging technological advances in interactive
services and products.
This report is printed on recycled paper.
<PAGE>
[PHOTO OMITTED]
[LOGO]
THE GABELLI
GLOBAL
MULTIMEDIA
TRUST INC.
To Our Shareholders,
In the third quarter of 1999, the Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust
delivered strong returns, despite a sharp decline in the U.S. stock market and
mixed results from international equity markets. We believe strong secular
growth and accelerating consolidation in the telecommunications and media
industries shield the portfolio from much of the impact of cyclical economic and
market forces.
Investment Performance
For the third quarter ended September 30, 1999, The Gabelli Global
Multimedia Trust Inc.'s ("Multimedia Trust") net asset value (NAV) per share
increased 3.02% to $16.75, after adjusting for the $0.50 per share distribution
paid on September 27, 1999. This compares to the average 1.02% decrease of the
269 Global Funds tracked by Lipper Inc. over this period. The Lipper average is
an unmanaged indicator of investment performance. For the twelve months ended
September 30, 1999, the Multimedia Trust appreciated 79.72% after adjusting for
the $1.05 per share in distributions paid during this period. This compares to
the average 30.54% increase of the Lipper Inc. Global Fund Average over the same
period. Since its inception on November 15, 1994, the Multimedia Trust's net
asset value has achieved a 218.43% total return after adjusting for the rights
offering and all distributions. This equates to a 26.79% average annual return.
The Multimedia Trust's common shares ended the third quarter at $14.50 per
share on the New York Stock Exchange, down 0.18% for the quarter and an increase
of 81.06% for the twelve-month period ending September 30, 1999. The common
shares have increased 158.59% since inception after adjusting for all
distributions and the rights offering.
[GRAPHIC OMITTED]
What We Do
The success of momentum investing in recent years and investors' desire
for instant gratification have combined to make value investing appear dull. At
the risk of being dull, we will once again describe the "boring" value approach
that has seen us through both good and bad markets over the last 4 years at The
Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust and for over 22 years at Gabelli Asset
Management Company. In past reports, we have tried to articulate our investment
philosophy and methodology. The following graphic further illustrates the
interplay among the four components of our valuation approach.
Our focus is on free cash flow: earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) minus the capital expenditures necessary
to grow the business. We believe free cash flow is the best barometer of a
business' value. Rising free cash flow often foreshadows net earnings
improvement. We also look at earnings per share trends. Unlike Wall Street's
ubiquitous earnings momentum players, we do not try to forecast earnings with
accounting precision and then trade stocks based on quarterly expectations and
realities. We simply try to position ourselves in front of long-term earnings
uptrends. In addition, we analyze on and off balance sheet assets and
<PAGE>
liabilities such as plant and equipment, inventories, receivables, and legal,
environmental and health care issues. We want to know everything and anything
that will add to or detract from our private market value (PMV) estimates.
Finally, we look for a catalyst: something happening in the company's industry
or indigenous to the company itself that will surface value. In the case of the
independent telephone stocks, the catalyst is a regulatory change. In the
agricultural equipment business, it is the increasing world-wide demand for
American food and feed crops. In other instances, it may be a change in
management, sale or spin-off of a division or the development of a profitable
new business.
Once we identify stocks that qualify as fundamental and conceptual
bargains, we then become patient investors. This has been a proven long-term
method for preserving and enhancing wealth in the U.S. equities market. At the
margin, our new investments are focused on businesses that are well-managed and
will benefit from sustainable long-term economic dynamics. These include macro
trends, such as the globalization of the market in filmed entertainment and
telecommunications, and micro trends, such as an increased focus on productivity
enhancing goods and services.
THE PORTFOLIO OVERVIEW
Global Allocation
The chart at the right represents the Multimedia Trust's holdings by
geographic region as of September 30, 1999. The geographic allocation will
change based on current global market conditions. Countries and/or regions and
companies represented in the chart and below may or may not be included in the
Multimedia Trust's portfolio in the future.
Equity Mix
The Multimedia Trust's investment premise falls within the context of two
main investment universes: a) companies involved in creativity, as it relates to
the development of intellectual property rights (copyrights); and b) companies
involved in distribution, as it relates to the delivery of these copyrights.
Additionally, this includes the broad scope of communications-related services
such as basic voice and data.
The chart at the right depicts our equity mix of the copyright/creativity
and distribution companies in our portfolio as of September 30, 1999.
HOLDINGS BY GEOGRAPHIC REGION - 9/30/99
[The following table was depicted as a pie chart in the printed material.]
United States 77.7%
Europe 7.8%
Canada 6.2%
Asia/Pacific Rim 5.9%
Latin America 2.4%
[The following table was depicted as a pie chart in the printed material.]
Distribution 62.0%
Copyright/Creativity 38.0%
2
<PAGE>
COMMENTARY
Wireless Works
About one year ago, AT&T began to set a new standard for the wireless
communications industry. By piecing together a nearly seamless national network,
eliminating roaming charges, and lowering prices to 20 cents per minute for
calls to anywhere in the U.S., AT&T has forced other wireless providers to
follow suit. The push is on for low cost national and even global wireless
services. Prices throughout the industry are dropping and usage is increasing.
New programs such as "calling party pays" and prepaid plans are also making
wireless services more attractive. Finally, laptop computer sales continue to
rise, and more data is moving over wireless systems. This further fuels demand
for wireless spectrum and enhances the value of wireless assets.
Toward the end of this quarter, we celebrated a blessed event. Telephone &
Data Systems (TDS), one of our larger holdings, sold its personal communications
services ("PCS") business Aerial Communications to VoiceStream Wireless.
Although we like the investment prospects for PCS, TDS obtained a premium price
for this business, and in the process of eliminating an asset that demanded
considerable capital expenditures, improved its net earnings outlook. TDS stock
made a move upward in the midst of the market declines during the last two weeks
of September. In addition, this transaction should help to surface value in our
other wireless communications holdings.
Viacom and CBS--Dan Rather, Meet The Rugrats
We are not likely to see cartoon characters on the CBS Evening News, but
there is a great deal of synergy in the new Viacom/CBS. The combined company
joins Time Warner, News Corp., and Disney in the pantheon of fully integrated
media companies. They have content--Paramount Pictures, CBS' programming assets,
and Simon & Schuster publishing--and distribution--the CBS Television Network,
CBS Radio, Viacom's thriving cable networks (MTV, VH-1, and Nickelodeon), and
CBS' huge outdoor advertising (billboard) business. Any advertiser looking to
reach any demographic consumer segment will not have to go anywhere else. This
"one stop shopping" feature for advertisers, the complete vertical integration
of the company, and the ability to cross-market its own products should enhance
revenues and drive down costs. In addition, CBS' Mel Karmazin is a worthy heir
apparent to Viacom's energetic Chairman Sumner Redstone, thus diluting Wall
Street's concern regarding the management succession question at Viacom. Both
CBS' and Viacom's stock prices moved higher on the announcement of the merger,
an indication that Wall Street understands that one plus one equals more than
two in this combined company.
Broadcast News
The FCC's August 1999 decision to allow duopolies--ownership of two
television stations in the same market--should accelerate consolidation in the
broadcast industry. Any broadcaster with a station in the top fifty markets will
likely be entertaining overtures from the likes of NBC (owned by General
Electric), ABC (owned by Disney), the new CBS/Viacom, and larger independent
broadcasters, such as Tribune. NBC has already purchased a 32% position in
Paxson Communications. We expect to see portfolio holdings such as Young
Broadcasting and Granite Broadcasting receive a lot of attention in the months
ahead.
3
<PAGE>
Cable Modems
In our second quarter letter to shareholders, we opined that high speed
cable modems gave the cable television providers an edge over telephone
companies in the battle for Internet traffic. This was also the reason we cited
for our investment in Scientific-Atlanta, one of the leading cable modem
manufacturers. Scientific-Atlanta's stock price rose sharply this quarter on the
announcement that Motorola was buying its larger competitor General Instrument.
When interviewed by the financial press following this announced deal,
Scientific-Atlantic management stated that they believe they can continue to
compete in the fast growing market for cable modems as an independent company.
However, they also promised not to stand in the way of anything that would
enhance the value of their shareholders' investment. That could be interpreted
as an invitation to dance.
Sprinting into Battle
As we write, BellSouth has joined MCI Worldcom in bidding for Sprint. Both
bids face serious regulatory hurdles. Bell South/Sprint would challenge current
rules preventing the regional Bells from getting into the long distance business
and an MCI Worldcom/Sprint combination may inspire antitrust scrutiny. So, we
may not see any deal get done. But, these competing bids underscore the value of
wireless and wired telecommunications assets and the economic forces driving
large telecommunications companies to get even larger. We believe that at some
point, regulatory resistance to such deals will wane and the telecommunications
giants here and abroad will be allowed to slug it out for the assets they need
to become global powerhouses.
This Quarter's Scorecard
Three wireless communications companies (Omnipoint, Western Wireless, and
Vodafone AirTouch) were among our top performers this quarter. Japanese
broadcaster Tokyo Broadcasting System also made the list, as did U.S.
independent broadcasters Granite Broadcasting and Young Broadcasting. The
previously-mentioned Telephone & Data Systems and Scientific-Atlanta also
finished high on our leaderboard. Three of the now Big Four media companies
(News Corp., Disney, and Time Warner) disappointed, and although it rallied
after announcing the CBS acquisition, Viacom closed the quarter with a modest
loss. Despite its position as the number one diversified telecommunications
company in the world, AT&T also gave up considerable ground.
4
<PAGE>
Deals, Deals and More Deals
We would like to share with you excerpts from an interview by Kathryn M.
Welling with our Chief Investment Officer which appeared in the September 17,
1999 issue of welling@weeden. Discussion of individual companies is not
necessarily reflective of the Fund's entire portfolio.
Listening in . . . A Dialogue With Mario Gabelli
Q: Mario, can you make sense of the market here?
GABELLI: My own sense is that the consumer has had lots of drivers. One,
full employment, good wages. Then too, the globalization of the labor
force made people concerned that they needed to work hard to make their
companies competitive and to keep their jobs. So did the fact that the
Internet was coming. Out there, when they start to feel in danger of
becoming obsolete, they work harder. So you have had outstanding labor
relations, even though the labor market got tight. A second driver has
been that the consumer's wealth has been growing, not only from the stock
market, but most importantly from--
Q: Real estate?
GABELLI: Exactly. Real estate has been critical because most people kind
of got started, you know, after hearing that their neighbors had
refinanced their mortgages. They'd gone from a $100,000 mortgage at 9% to
a $150,000 mortgage at 7%. Their monthly payments were the same. So
suddenly they all had money. And so their neighbors went out and got
money, too. But that's over. Now food and fuel prices are climbing. How
significant is that? Well, as an estimate, there are 140 million cars in
the United States. My car gets 25 miles to the gallon. I drive about
12,000 miles a year, which means I use about 500 gallons. I'm paying 20
cents higher prices, per gallon, now than I did last winter. That's $100
more a year. That's $2 a week. Which means that we're sucking out of the
system something on the order of an extra $300 million to $400 million a
week, just to pay for oil.
Q: Doing wonders for our current account-
GABELLI: The good news is that the extra money is going to less-developed
countries. Primarily to the oil patch, where they've been really dry for a
while. So they have a high marginal propensity to spend--and their
consumption has a multiplier effect. But the point I'm trying to get at is
the other side of the coin, which is that, in this country the consumer
could run into a fatigue factor, even though on a global basis there's a
backlog of demand.
"The next six months probably hold really terrific speculative
opportunities-but with a limited margin of safety.
Q: So you're expecting a slowdown?
GABELLI: I wouldn't say that. What will help the economy here in the year
2000 is that, clearly, the rest of the world is recovering, so exports
from the U.S. will pick up a tad. And the second thing is that it is an
election year. The Republicans are going to make faith, finances and the
family their important themes--and that means tax cuts. Which, of course,
consumers like. So tax cuts could give you a little boost, kind of the
equivalent of a shot of caffeine for consumer spending, and for the
economy. So on balance I think the global economy probably looks
reasonably good for next year, the year 2000. And the global economy,
Gross World Product, not GDP, but GWP, is what everybody should be looking
at. And that looks very good. What can go wrong? The dollar.
5
<PAGE>
Q: Funny you should mention the greenback. It's been sinking fast, against
the yen. That could become a quite a headache, no?
GABELLI: There's just one small problem with the lower dollar--our trade
deficit with Japan is $50 billion. If the yen goes to 108 from 120, that
means we're going to have to pay more yen. That means the trade deficit
goes up short-term. Meanwhile, the Chinese are killing us in trade. Our
balance of payments with the Chinese is atrocious. Then there are oil
prices. Oil prices are a $50 billion bill and one that's going up. So the
numbers that are going to be reported in the next 90 days are going to
show staggering dollar deficits.
Q: Which won't exactly be a blessing for the stock market--
GABELLI: I can't tell you that I know what that means. Except that I
suspect, if you are the Fed, your response to those sorts of numbers would
probably be to think that you have to raise rates one more time. Now, I
view that as cod liver oil. I think the market has to look on it as taking
its medicine, however bad it tastes. The market has to take its
medicine-at least to the degree that Greenspan decides will take the air
out of the market.
Q: But can it be deflated gently?
GABELLI: If you go and read the speech Greenspan gave recently at Jackson
Hole, you realize that the analogy part of it was probably driven by the
fact that he was looking out at Jackson Lake, where there's a big dam. He
said the market is like a dam. If the tension of the water builds up too
much, the dam could burst unexpectedly, and the same thing with the world.
Because psychology is an important element. So the markets today could
change dramatically. Earnings are going to be good. But multiples should
not expand, because interest rates are likely going higher--even though
they're already high in real terms. Mr. Market, the psychology, is
extraordinarily fickle. And because the mindset of the investor can't
handle an abrupt change, he can go into a disengagement mode. So Mr.
Market could turn very quickly, burst like a dam. The job of the Fed is to
let air out of the balloon. And that's what Chairman Greenspan is doing.
As a result, I look at the next six months as probably holding really
terrific speculative opportunities--but with a limited margin of safety.
Q: Knowing you, that means deals. Where are you speculating? You've been
wireless's biggest booster forever, it seems.
GABELLI: Well, it's happening. When AT&T about a year ago came in and
bundled its wireless in a package and said, "Look, if you want 1,000
minutes, it's going to cost you 20 cents a minute everywhere in the United
States," the others had to come in with their own bundles. And that has
driven demand up substantially. The second thing that's going to drive up
demand substantially is the shift to calling party pays. Right now, in the
United States, if I give you my cell phone number and you call me, I pay.
We're going to shift to a calling party pays arrangement, which will
stimulate demand because, that way, I'll give my number out.
Then the third thing that is happening, at the margin, is what's called
"prepaid." When you or I use our phones here, we get a bill and pay. But
with prepaid, you go in and plunk down $150 for a phone. But you don't
have to use it to place calls. With calling party pays, you can just turn
it on, and if somebody calls you, they pay. So that combination should
also stimulate demand. Finally, everybody's got a laptop. And everybody's
moving data. Wireless movement of data is going to increase demand for
various ways to do it. My point is that wireless data transmission is
another driver of the use of and demand for spectrum.
Q: And the wireless universe is doing your favorite thing: deals.
GABELLI: The consolidation of wireless companies is continuing. We're
looking for another way to play it. The obvious ways were Omnipoint,
VoiceStream Wireless, Western Wireless, Price Communications and so on.
The next wave is going to take place in the buying of the companies that
acquired the wireless companies that are not as visible. Like ALLTEL,
Century Telephone. Obviously, too, Telephone & Data Systems, which is my
largest holding. That's where I am looking. You'll probably see some
announcements coming out of Vodafone and Bell Atlantic.
6
<PAGE>
Q: So you're the source of those rumors.
GABELLI: Just a party interested in consolidations. You'll see Bell Canada
moving down into the United States. You'll see Rogers Cantel Mobile
Communications doing something with AT&T over time. So I'm still nibbling
at those. We're just shifting some our emphasis in that area.
Q: We suppose we should ask about the merger mania in television.
GABELLI: It's hard to avoid it, even though it's already been discussed
widely and intensely. Obviously the catalyst occurred when (FCC Chairman)
Bill Kennard in early August decided to permit the TV station owners to
own up to two stations in a single market. That started a land rush for
television stations. So now what I would call "POTS," for Plain Old
Television Service--
Q: Wait a minute. For years, you have insisted that POTS stands for Plain
Old Telephone--
GABELLI: Well, I did. I've rephrased it. It's my right. Since I invented
POTS, I may as well use it in a new way. Plain Old Television Service is
becoming increasingly attractive because of all the technological guys
going into things like Wink, and TiVo. The desire is to have the
ubiquitous television become an interactive device. We anticipated this at
Gabelli & Co. when we created the Interactive Couch Potato Fund six or
seven years ago. So the Winks and TiVos of the world, the video on demand,
the e-commerce, all the other goods and services that one could get
through your television equipped with a return tap, either your cable or
your telephone wire, are happening. In addition, each of the television
station operators now has the ability to go from offering what is an
analog channel to a digital channel. Then the FCC changed its rules
providing the catalyst, and now a skillful operator who owns stations in
the top 10 markets, or the top 20, can own a second station in that
market. That's what caused Mel Karmazin to pick up the phone and say to
Sumner (Redstone), "Let's talk about putting TV stations together." And
low and behold, they put their companies together. Now the race is on. Fox
is going to do it. Barry Diller at USA Networks is going to do something.
Obviously, (Chairman Lowell) Bud Paxson at Paxson Communications. (PAX
Thursday announced a strategic partnership with General Electric's NBC)
The Spanish-language television stations will do something. Then the FCC
will eliminate their cross-ownership rules, which will allow newspapers to
own television stations in their own markets--and then maybe the FCC will
even allow cable operators to own television stations in the same
market--though that's not as likely in the short run. But there will be
lots of lovemaking. Headlines. The media loves to talk about themselves.
Q: No kidding. But are the savings that big?
GABELLI: It's revenue enhancing, too. What they'll do is reduce
programming costs by having only one bidder per program instead of two.
They'll drive up revenues because their marketing teams will be able to
sell more elegantly.
Q: "Elegantly" Karmazin is an amazin' salesman. You've bought that?
GABELLI: Yes. It has worked. He's done it in radio. Any guy's who's done
duopoly in radio can understand the benefits to multimedia duopoly,
multiplexing. I was a skeptic in some ways about how radio would get a
larger share of the media pie, but it has worked.
Q: So this land rush is changing basic television stations, which were
looking more and more like they were going the way of the dodo bird with
all the new competitive media and distribution technologies, into objects
of desire?
GABELLI: Well, at least in the top 10 markets. In 1991, I bought a TV
station because everyone perceived that they were the caboose of the
multimedia train--because the caboose can't go any slower than the engine.
7
<PAGE>
Q: It just arrives at the destination later.
GABELLI: After starting later. My point is merely that at that point the
market multiples on these things had dropped to seven or eight times cash
flow, and now they're up to 13 or 14 times. Some of the smart guys like
Don Cornwell at Granite Broadcasting are going to see this as an ultimate
exit opportunity; and some like Herb Siegel (Chris-Craft Industries) are
hopefully not going to out-negotiate themselves.
Q: You've been optimistic about Chris-Craft surfacing value--forever, it
seems.
GABELLI: Herb Siegel is basically sitting on a billion and a half dollars
in cash. He's got some wonderful assets. Owning stations in the top 10
markets, like New York and L.A., particularly in this environment, is
golden. Why does he need three public companies (Chris-Craft, its 79%
owned BHC Communications, and United Television, 58.5% owned by BHC)? I
don't know. It's got to be collapsed. So stay tuned. Herb's a good guy. He
understands that he's a little bit, that his patience is too much like
Job's. He had an opportunity to have control of Fox. He had an opportunity
to have control of Time-Warner. He had an opportunity to leg into MCA and
an opportunity to leg into a big ownership in Paramount. We'll see what he
comes away with. There's nothing like a good business that's a cash
generator in a good economy. And nothing like having someone do things to
monetize that wealth. You can't sit with a billion and a half dollars
forever.
Q: Not everyone finds deals so intoxicating--
GABELLI: You know, the history of deals in the 1890's--the consolidation
of steel, oil and railroads--is no different than what's going on with the
banks, brokers, broadcasters of the 1990's. This current one happens to be
very global. And this one is going to continue. So we still believe you
want to get in front of the deals. Our strength has always been to
identifying takeovers. And, as a last note, the proposed elimination of
pooling of interest accounting for mergers is only accelerating the
current consolidation trend. It leaves a lot of companies concerned about
how the part of the Street that is EPS-driven, as opposed to those who are
EBITDA-driven, will look on their companies. This is also is a catalyst
for deals. I think (AlliedSignal Chairman and CEO) Larry Bossidy and
(Honeywell Chairman and CEO) Mike Bonsignore got together now in part
because of the potential elimination of poolings. I think you'll see a lot
more. So the number of deals that will happen in the United States in the
next 12 months is going to be staggering. And at the same time, companies
are going to start signaling to the world to "Hey, start looking at cash
earnings."
Q: A very slippery concept, that.
GABELLI: Only for people who don't understand the EBITDA culture. For guys
who, like me, followed broadcasting and cable in the late 60's and early
70's, it's natural--
Q: Only because they had no real earning.
GABELLI: That's right. But we created enormous wealth anyway, for the
shareholders and the owners. For me, EBITDA minus cap-ex has always been a
standard. It's exciting. That's what we're doing.
Q: Okay, enough merger madness.
GABELLI: Well, I'm also buying some of the newspapers. Like Pulitzer. Just
because, after spinning out their broadcast outlets, they have a leveraged
stub there. And they finally have a good guy running the place. It's not
that Mike Pulitzer was bad guy. It's just that he wasn't a hands-on
business guy running the newspaper chain. So we're buying Pulitzer.
On that note, thanks, Mario. |_|
8
<PAGE>
BARRON'S Closed-End Fund Section
The net asset value of the Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust appears in
Monday's The Wall Street Journal, in Sunday's The New York Times in the
Closed-End Funds column under the heading "Specialized Equity Funds", and in
Barron's Mutual Funds/Closed-End Funds section under the heading "Specialized
Equity Funds". You may also call 1-(800)-GABELLI (1-800-422-3554) to obtain
daily NAVs.
The following chart appeared in Barron's on October 25, 1999. To review
what is presented, the first column lists the fund name and its trading symbol,
with the second column indicating the exchange on which it trades. In our case
the Multimedia Trust trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
"GGT".
The "NAV" column illustrates what the actual portfolio value is worth per
share - total assets minus the liabilities divided by the number of shares
outstanding. The market price is simply the price at which the fund is trading
on the exchange. Closed-end funds have a limited number of shares outstanding.
To buy or sell shares investors use the NYSE to complete their transactions.
Concerning the market price, closed-end funds can either trade at a
premium or a discount to the NAV. The "Prem/Disc" column illustrates the
percentage difference the market price varies from the NAV. As of the close on
Friday, October 22, 1999, the Multimedia Trust's last trade was at a 11.7%
discount to NAV. The final column indicates the total return (change in market
value plus an adjustment for reinvestment of distributions) of the fund over the
twelve months ending October 22, 1999.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
52 Week
Stock Market Prem Market
Fund Name (Symbol) Exch NAV Price /Disc Return
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASA Limited (ASA) N 23.22 20 3/8 -12.2 3.5
C&S Realty (RIF) A 6.62 7 1/4 +9.5 -4.4
C&S Total Rtn (RFI) N 10.85 11 3/16 +3.1 -2.1
Centrl Fd Canada (CEF) A 4.00 4 3/8 +9.4 7.9
Duff&Ph Util Inc (DNP) N 8.86 9 5/8 +8.7 -3.7
Dundee Prec Mtls (DPM.A) T 14.36 9 9/16 -33.5 -9.9
First Financial (FF) N 9.14 8 3/8 -8.3 -11.4
Gabelli Gl Multimedia (GGT) N 17.77 15 11/16 -11.7 92.6
Gabelli Utility (GUT) N 7.48 8 +7.0 NS
H&Q Health Inv (HQH) N 21.16 15 7/8 -25.0 20.9
H&Q Life Sci Inv (HQL) N 17.33 14 3/8 -17.0 30.7
INVESCO Gl Hlth (GHS) N 17.78 16 1/8 -9.3 16.2
J Han Bank (BTO) N NA 9 NA -14.4
Petroleum & Res (PEO) N 40.28 33 3/16 -17.6 9.6
Seligman New Tech (N/A) z 28.05 NA NA NS
SthEastrn Thrift (STBF) O NA 17 1/2 NA -14.8
Thermo Opprtunty (TMF) A 7.96 6 1/4 -21.5 -5.7
Source: BARRON'S
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9
<PAGE>
Stock Repurchase Plan
The Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust is authorized to repurchase up to
1,000,000 shares of the Multimedia Trust's outstanding shares. Pursuant to this
stock repurchase plan, the Multimedia Trust may from time to time purchase
shares of its capital stock in the open market when the shares are trading at a
discount of 10% or more from the net asset value of the shares. In total,
through September 30, 1999, 663,233 shares were repurchased in the open market.
Preferred Stock -- An Investment For The Future
On June 4, 1997, the Trust successfully completed its offering of
cumulative preferred stock which is rated `aaa' by Moody's Investors Service,
Inc. The Trust issued 1,250,000 Preferred Shares at $25 per share ($31.25
million) with an annual dividend rate of $1.98 per share paying quarterly. The
Preferred Shares are trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
"GGT Pr" and closed at $24.5625 on September 30, 1999.
How would Preferred Shares benefit Common Shareholders? From its inception
on November 15, 1994 through September 30, 1999, the Multimedia Trust has earned
a 26.8% average annual return. The Preferred Shares were issued with an annual
dividend rate of 7.92%. The only obligation that the Trust has to the Preferred
Shareholders is to pay the stated dividend rate. Given the current market
environment, we considered this to be an ideal opportunity to take advantage of
relatively low long-term interest rates and to earn an excess return for our
Common Shareholders consistent with our conservative investment approach. Any
return earned in excess of the stated dividend rate, which is less than the
Trust's average annual return, would directly benefit Common Shareholders;
however, any shortfall from the stated rate would impact the Common Shareholders
in the opposite fashion. Therefore, by taking advantage of the current
relatively low interest rate environment and achieving our investment
objectives, the Preferred Share issuance offers what we believe is a
conservative method of potentially adding wealth for our Common Shareholders.
Furthermore, Common Shareholders stand to receive certain tax benefits as
a result of the Preferred Stock offering. Since taxable income is allocated to
the Preferred Shareholders before Common Shareholders, taxable distributions to
Common Shareholders are not required to the extent they would be if the
Preferred Shares were not outstanding. With the completion of the preferred
offering, the Adviser has agreed to waive the management fee on the incremental
assets during any year in which the net asset value total return on the Trust
does not exceed the stated dividend rate on the Preferred Shares.
Let's Talk Stocks
The following are stock specifics on selected holdings of the Multimedia
Trust. Favorable EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and
Amortization) prospects do not necessarily translate into higher stock prices,
but they do express a positive trend which we believe will develop over time.
Aerial Communications Inc. (AERL - $27.125 - Nasdaq) is an 82%-owned subsidiary
of Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) that has Personal Communications Services
("PCS") access covering 26.2 million people. On September 20, Aerial agreed to
be acquired by VoiceStream Wireless (VSTR - $61.72 - Nasdaq) in a $3.3 billion
stock transaction. TDS's ownership of Aerial will be converted to VoiceStream
stock, resulting in TDS owning more than 36 million shares of VSTR. Upon
consummation of the Aerial and Omnipoint acquisitions, VoiceStream will emerge
as a major national PCS carrier with licenses covering over 230 million people.
10
<PAGE>
Ascent Entertainment Group Inc. (GOAL - $13.75 - Nasdaq) operates diversified
media and entertainment production and distribution businesses. The company
conducts its business in three reportable segments, Multimedia Distribution,
Entertainment, and Network Services. Ascent owns 57% of On Command Corp., which
is the leading provider of in-room, on-demand video entertainment and
information services to the domestic lodging industry with a total of almost
930,000 rooms served at year end 1998. Ascent has sold its sports operations,
consisting of the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche and the Arena Company.
Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC - $72.75 - AMEX) is one of the nation's leading
communications and entertainment companies, with a portfolio of operations that
span state-of-the-art, high-speed multimedia delivery, subscription cable
television services, championship professional sports teams and national cable
television networks. Headquartered in Bethpage, N.Y., Cablevision serves more
than 3.4 million cable customers primarily in three core markets: New York,
Boston and Cleveland. Cablevision is a leader in delivering cutting-edge
technological innovation, such as Optimum TV, to the home. Through its Rainbow
Media Holdings subsidiary, Cablevision manages and develops internationally
recognized content offerings such as the popular national television networks
American Movie Classics, Bravo and The Independent Film Channel. Cablevision has
a controlling interest in New York City's famed Madison Square Garden, which
includes the arena complex, the N.Y. Knicks, the N.Y. Rangers and the MSG
network. Cablevision operates Radio City Entertainment and holds a long term
lease for Radio City Music Hall, home of the world famous Rockettes.
Liberty Media Group (LMG'A - $37.125 - NYSE) is engaged in businesses which
provide programming services, including production, acquisition and distribution
through all available media formats, as well as businesses engaged in electronic
retailing, direct marketing and other services. LMG holds interests in
globally-branded entertainment networks such as Discovery Channel, USA Network,
QVC, Encore and STARZ!. Liberty's assets also include interests in international
video distribution businesses international telephony and domestic wireless,
plant and equipment manufacturers, and other businesses related to broadband
services. Liberty Media Group Class A and Class B common stock are tracking
stocks of AT&T Corp. (T - $43.50 - NYSE) and are now traded on the New York
Stock Exchange.
MediaOne Group Inc. (UMG - $68.3125 - NYSE) is one of the nation's leading
broadband services companies. UMG provides more than five million subscribers in
17 states with basic and premium cable television services and has recently
introduced high speed Internet access, telephone services and digital television
in some of its service areas. MediaOne was created from the 1996 union of
telecommunications company MediaOne Group (formerly US West Media Group) and
Continental Cablevision. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, the company is
conducting a national upgrade of its hybrid fiber optic/coaxial cable ("HFC")
network to broadband technology, which improves traditional cable service and
enables next-generation products and services. UMG's investment interests
include 25% of Time Warner Entertainment (which includes Warner Brothers Studio
and Home Box Office), 24% of PCS Prime Co. and almost 27% of TeleWest plc. The
number three U.S. cable television provider recently agreed to be acquired by
AT&T Corp. (T - $43.50 - NYSE) for $54 billion.
Nielsen Media Research Inc. (NMR - $37.1875 - NYSE) is the leading provider of
television audience measurement and related services in the United States and
Canada. Its services provide audience estimates for all national program
sources, including broadcast networks, cable networks, Spanish language
television and national syndications. Nielsen also provides competitive
advertising intelligence information and Internet usage and
11
<PAGE>
advertising information. VNU NV, a Dutch international publishing and
information services company, is offering to purchase all shares of NMR for
$37.75 per share in cash.
Omnipoint Corp. (OMPT - $55.875 - Nasdaq) is a leading personal communications
services ("PCS") carrier in the U.S., with licenses covering major metropolitan
areas containing nearly 100 million people. On June 23, 1999, Omnipoint agreed
to be acquired by VoiceStream Wireless (VSTR - $61.72 - Nasdaq) for 0.825 shares
of VoiceStream and $8.00 cash per shares of OMPT. The combined company will have
PCS licenses covering about 190 million points of presence ("POPs") and will
become a major PCS carrier.
Telephone & Data Systems Inc. (TDS - $88.8125 - AMEX) is a diversified
telecommunications company with established cellular and local telephone
operations and a developing personal communications services ("PCS") business.
TDS provides high quality telecommunications services to three million customers
in 35 states. TDS owns 81.1% of United States Cellular Corp. (USM - $68.00 -
AMEX), the nation's seventh largest cellular telephone company. It also owns
82.4% of Aerial Communications Inc. (AERL - $27.125 - Nasdaq), TDS's PCS
subsidiary which owns the licenses to provide PCS service in six major trading
areas ("MTAs") encompassing approximately 27.6 million population equivalents.
On September 20, 1999, VoiceStream Wireless (VSTR - $61.72 - Nasdaq) announced
the acquisition of Aerial in a $3.3 billion transaction. Pro-forma for this
acquisition, TDS will own over 36 million shares of VoiceStream.
USA Networks Inc. (USAI - $38.75 - Nasdaq), through its subsidiaries, engages in
diversified media and electronic commerce businesses that include: electronic
retailing, ticketing operations and television broadcasting. Chairman and CEO
Barry Diller has brought together under one umbrella: the USA Network, the
Sci-Fi Channel, USA Networks Studios, USA Broadcasting, The Home Shopping
Network and the Ticketmaster Group. The plan is to integrate these assets,
leveraging programming, production capabilities and electronic commerce across
this strong distribution platform.
Viacom Inc. (VIA'A - $43.25 - AMEX), long a major provider of entertainment
"content", has evolved into one of the world's dominant media companies. The
additions of Paramount Communications, Blockbuster Entertainment (acquired in
1994), and publisher Simon & Schuster make Viacom one of the largest
entertainment and publishing companies. Non-core assets are being divested and
debt has been reduced to approximately $8 billion. Viacom is focusing on global
expansion of its media franchises. Viacom is particularly well-positioned in
music (notably MTV) and cable networks (such as Nickelodeon).
Daily NAVs Now Distributed by Nasdaq
Since our inception, we have made the net asset value available on nightly
recordings through 1-800-GABELLI. Now, Nasdaq is also disseminating the daily
per share net asset values (NAVs) for the Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust, which
is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The NAV ticker symbol via Nasdaq is
"XGGTX".
The NAVs are available through any stock quote lookup service and on
broker Nasdaq level one terminals. The dissemination of daily NAVs allows
investors and brokers to better track the long-term performance of the Fund's
underlying portfolio. We support Nasdaq's efforts in making closed-end funds'
NAVs available on a daily basis.
12
<PAGE>
Dividends
The Trust recently distributed an interim capital gain distribution of
$0.50 per share to Common Shareholders on September 27, 1999. It is expected
that a year-end distribution will also be paid in December reflecting all
remaining income and capital gains earned during the year. For the twelve months
ended September 30, 1999, the Trust distributed a total of $1.05 per share to
Common Shareholders. Our Preferred Shareholders were recently paid a dividend of
$0.495 per share on September 27, 1999. For the twelve months ended September
30, 1999, the Preferred Shareholders received a total distribution of $1.98 per
share, which is the annual dividend rate on the Preferred Shares.
Internet
You can now visit us on the Internet. Our home page at
http://www.gabelli.com contains information about Gabelli Asset Management Inc.,
the Gabelli Mutual Funds, IRAs, 401(k)s, quarterly reports, closing prices and
other current news. You can send us e-mail at [email protected].
In Conclusion
Telecommunications and multimedia stocks continued to excel in largely
uninspiring global equity markets. We saw deals throughout all of the sectors of
our interactive universe. There is a "whole lotta shakin' goin' on" in these
industries, and as we advance further into the "Age of Interactivity", we
believe values will continue to grow.
Sincerely,
/s/ Mario J. Gabelli
Mario J. Gabelli
President and Chief Investment Officer
October 25, 1999
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Top Ten Holdings
September 30, 1999
------------------
Liberty Media Group Omnipoint Corp.
Telephone & Data Systems Inc. Nielsen Media Research Inc.
Viacom Inc. MediaOne Group Inc.
USA Networks Inc. Aerial Communications Inc.
Cablevision Systems Corp. Ascent Entertainment Group Inc.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: The views expressed in this report reflect those of the portfolio manager
only through the end of the period stated in this report. The manager's views
are subject to change at any time based on market and other conditions.
13
<PAGE>
The Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust Inc.
Portfolio of Investments -- September 30, 1999 (Unaudited)
================================================================================
Market
Shares Value
------ ------
COMMON STOCKS -- 88.8%
COPYRIGHT/CREATIVITY COMPANIES -- 33.8%
Advertising -- 0.1%
4,000 Bowlin Outdoor Advertising & Travel Inc. .... $ 21,000
200 Havas Advertising SA......................... 47,891
100 Lamar Advertising Co......................... 4,950
200 Publicis SA.................................. 46,401
------------
120,242
------------
Cable Programmers -- 4.1%
60,000 CANAL +, Sponsored ADR+...................... 630,928
6,000 Flextech plc+................................ 93,296
209,000 USA Networks Inc.+........................... 8,098,750
------------
8,822,974
------------
Computer Software and Services -- 0.7%
1,000 Activision Inc.+............................. 17,625
180 America Online Inc.+......................... 18,720
3,000 Atlus Co. Ltd................................ 35,388
3,400 Barnesandnoble.com Inc.+..................... 65,662
4,000 CDnow Inc.+.................................. 49,750
2,000 EarthLink Network Inc.+...................... 85,875
500 Electronics Arts Inc.+....................... 36,187
14,000 H&R Block Inc................................ 608,125
1,000 Intel Corp................................... 74,313
3,000 Internet.com Corp.+.......................... 42,000
2,000 Microsoft Corp.+............................. 181,125
2,000 Mobius Management Systems+................... 8,750
100 Pixar Inc.+.................................. 3,762
10,000 Talk.com Inc.+............................... 129,063
500 Ticketmaster Online-City Search Inc.+........ 12,094
20,000 Xionics Document Technologies Inc.+.......... 117,500
------------
1,485,939
------------
Consumer Products -- 0.0%
1,000 Mattel Inc................................... 19,000
------------
Diversified Publishers -- 7.5%
10,000 Arnoldo Mondadori Editore SpA................ 174,537
30,000 Belo (A.H.) Corp., Cl. A..................... 573,750
5,000 Central Newspapers Inc., Cl. A............... 222,500
2,000 Dow Jones & Co. Inc.......................... 106,750
8,000 EMAP plc..................................... 110,236
700 Hachette Filipacchi Medias................... 176,485
20,000 Harcourt General Inc......................... 832,500
15,000 Harte-Hanks Communications Inc............... 377,813
10,000 Holdingmaatschappij De Telegraaf N.V......... 194,758
1,000 Hollinger International Inc.................. 11,875
4,500 Houghton Mifflin Co.......................... 182,812
58,000 Independent Newspapers Ltd., ORD............. 305,546
7,000 Knight-Ridder Inc............................ 384,125
22,000 Lee Enterprises Inc.......................... 602,250
20,000 McClatchy Newspapers Inc., Cl. A............. 715,000
8,000 McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.................... 387,000
22,000 Media General Inc., Cl. A.................... 1,127,500
18,000 Meredith Corp................................ 653,625
115,000 Nation Multimedia Group+..................... 29,835
100,000 New Straits Times Press Berhad............... 203,947
125,000 Oriental Press Group ORD..................... 16,575
109,000 Penton Media Inc............................. 1,771,250
10,000 Playboy Enterprises Inc., Cl. A+............. 220,625
110,900 Post Publishing Co. Ltd.+.................... 81,236
9,000 PRIMEDIA Inc.+............................... 126,000
28,000 Pulitzer Publishing Co....................... 1,272,250
60,000 Reader's Digest Association Inc., Cl. B...... 1,582,500
34,452 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd................. 543,126
250,000 South China Morning
Post Holdings ORD......................... 167,355
300 SPIR Communication........................... 22,190
50,000 Thomas Nelson Inc............................ 487,500
4,500 Times Mirror Co., Cl. A...................... 296,156
50,000 Times Publishing Ltd......................... 90,000
30,000 Tribune Co................................... 1,492,500
11,300 United News & Media plc, ADR................. 221,762
800 Wiley (John) & Sons Inc., Cl. A.............. 12,450
4,000 Wolters Kluwer NV............................ 137,075
2,000 Ziff-Davis Inc............................... 32,250
------------
15,945,644
------------
Entertainment Production -- 9.8%
255,000 Ascent Entertainment Group Inc.+............. 3,506,250
2,522 EMI Group plc................................ 18,435
20,000 EMI Group plc, Sponsored ADR................. 290,000
7,000 Grammy Entertainment plc+.................... 14,955
7,000 Granada Group plc............................ 59,983
7,000 GTECH Holdings Corp.+........................ 150,063
2,000 Harvey Entertainment Co.+.................... 10,625
430,000 Liberty Media Group Cl. A +.................. 15,963,750
25,000 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.+.................... 437,500
300 NRJ SA....................................... 81,415
3,000 Princeton Video Image Inc.+.................. 14,062
100,000 Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd................ 86,252
5,000 TV Guide Inc.+............................... 195,625
------------
20,828,915
------------
Global Media and Entertainment -- 8.4%
481 Boston Celtics Ltd........................... 5,291
40,000 Fox Entertainment Group Inc.................. 845,000
50,000 Grupo Televisa SA, GDR+...................... 1,996,875
21,000 News Corp. Ltd., ADS......................... 597,188
40,000 Seagram Co. Ltd.............................. 1,820,000
3,000 Sony Corp., ADR.............................. 450,187
50,000 Time Warner Inc.+............................ 3,037,500
14
<PAGE>
The Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust Inc.
Portfolio of Investments (Continued) -- September 30, 1999 (Unaudited)
================================================================================
Market
Shares Value
------ ------
COMMON STOCKS (Continued)
COPYRIGHT/CREATIVITY COMPANIES (Continued)
Global Media and Entertainment (Continued)
190,000 Viacom Inc., Cl. A+.......................... $ 8,217,500
33,000 Walt Disney Co............................... 853,875
------------
17,823,416
------------
Hotels and Gaming -- 2.8%
10,000 Aztar Corp.+................................. 102,500
740 Bass plc..................................... 8,924
5,000 Churchhill Downs Inc......................... 115,625
115,000 Gaylord Entertainment Co., Cl. A............. 3,392,500
143 GLC Limited+................................. 304
20,000 Hilton Hotels Corp........................... 197,500
500,000 Ladbroke Group plc........................... 1,743,019
8,000 Mirage Resorts Inc.+......................... 112,500
10,000 Park Place Entertainment Corp.+.............. 125,000
2,500 Quintel Entertainment Inc.+.................. 4,531
4,000 Starwood Hotels and Resorts
Worldwide Inc............................. 89,250
------------
5,891,653
------------
Information Publishing -- 0.4%
35,000 Berlitz International Inc.+.................. 737,187
8,000 Data Broadcasting Corp.+..................... 60,500
1,000 Dun & Bradstreet Corp........................ 29,875
500 Scholastic Corp.+............................ 25,000
------------
852,562
------------
TOTAL COPYRIGHT/CREATIVITY
COMPANIES ................................................. 71,790,345
------------
DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES -- 55.0%
Broadcasting -- 10.1%
90,000 Ackerley Group Inc........................... 1,108,125
8,550 American Tower Systems, Cl. A................ 167,259
1,000 AMFM Inc.+................................... 60,875
2,500 Audiofina SA+................................ 125,582
2,000 BHC Communications Inc., Cl. A............... 279,000
2,000 British Sky Broadcasting Group,
Sponsored ADR............................. 114,500
18,000 CanWest Global Communications Corp........... 220,423
2,000 Carlton Communications plc,
Sponsored ADR............................. 77,500
5,000 CBS Corporation.............................. 231,250
61,119 Chris-Craft Industries Inc................... 3,430,304
1,078 Clear Channel Communications Inc.+........... 86,105
8,333 Corus Entertainment Inc., Cl. B+............. 134,646
3,000 Cox Radio Inc., Cl. A+....................... 178,500
4,000 CTV Inc.+.................................... 54,834
500 Emmis Communications Corp., Cl. A+........... 33,031
20,120 Fisher Companies Inc......................... 1,197,140
1,000 General Electric Co.......................... 118,562
92,500 Granite Broadcasting Corp.+.................. 1,029,062
13,125 Gray Comminucations Systems Inc.............. 226,406
60,000 Gray Communications
Systems Inc., Cl. B....................... 862,500
7,000 Groupe AB SA, ADR+........................... 16,625
5,000 Grupo Radio Centro, SA de CV, ADR............ 20,625
38,000 Hearst-Argyle Television Inc.+............... 817,000
2,000 Infinity Broadcasting Corp.+................. 58,625
33,000 King World Productions Inc.+................. 1,237,500
700 LaGardere S.C.A.............................. 29,047
42,100 Liberty Corp................................. 1,952,387
400 Metropole TV M6 SA........................... 99,614
1,500 Nippon Television Network.................... 1,067,266
5,000 NTN Communications Inc.+..................... 6,250
17,400 Pathe SA..................................... 1,798,093
67,000 Paxson Communications Corp., Cl. A+.......... 820,750
500 Radio One Inc.+.............................. 20,750
1,220 SAGA Communications Inc., Cl. A.............. 28,060
12,000 Salem Communications Corp., Cl. A+........... 306,000
2,000 SBS Broadcasting SA+......................... 77,500
43,000 Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad............ 21,839
50,000 Television Broadcasting Ltd., ORD............ 213,700
2,500 Television Francaise 1....................... 698,946
55,000 Tokyo Broadcasting System.................... 1,104,480
3,000 TV Azteca, SA de C.V.+....................... 15,000
10,500 United Television Inc........................ 1,183,875
1,500 Wink Communications Inc.+.................... 65,531
2,000 Young Broadcasting Inc., Cl. A+.............. 104,750
------------
21,499,817
------------
Business Services -- 2.1%
15,000 Carlisle Holdings Ltd........................ 155,156
1,000 CheckFree Holdings Corp...................... 41,125
7,000 Convergys Corp.+............................. 138,688
2,000 IMS Health Inc............................... 45,625
103,333 Nielsen Media Research Inc................... 3,842,696
9,400 R.H. Donnelley Corp.......................... 175,075
------------
4,398,365
------------
Cable -- 6.4%
6,000 Austar United Communications Ltd.+........... 18,408
65,000 Cablevision Systems Corp., Cl. A+............ 4,728,750
30,000 Century Communications Corp., Cl. A+......... 1,368,750
5,000 Comcast Corp., Cl. A......................... 180,313
7,000 Comcast Corp., Cl. A Special................. 279,125
55,000 MediaOne Group Inc........................... 3,757,187
10,000 Mercom Inc.+................................. 120,000
4,498 NTL Inc.+.................................... 432,230
12,000 Telewest Communications plc,
Sponsored ADR+............................ 438,000
31,000 UnitedGlobalCom Inc., Cl. A+................. 2,220,375
15
<PAGE>
The Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust Inc.
Portfolio of Investments (Continued) -- September 30, 1999 (Unaudited)
================================================================================
Market
Shares Value
------ ------
COMMON STOCKS (Continued)
DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES (Continued)
Cable (Continued)
10,000 Videotron Groupe............................. $ 151,371
1,000 Wireless One Inc.+........................... 1,180
------------
13,695,689
------------
Consumer Services -- 0.3%
10,000 Allied Domecq plc............................ 56,756
5,992 Cendant Corp................................. 106,358
500 Department 56 Inc.+.......................... 11,969
15,000 Lillian Vernon Corp.......................... 187,500
2,000 Lowe's Companies Inc......................... 97,500
10,000 Travel Services Intl. Inc.................... 115,000
------------
575,083
------------
Energy and Utilities -- 0.8%
10,000 Cilcorp Inc.................................. 648,125
50,000 El Paso Electric Co.+........................ 450,000
10,000 New England Electric System.................. 518,750
------------
1,616,875
------------
Entertainment Distribution -- 1.9%
6,896 AMC Entertainment Inc........................ 96,113
120,000 Blockbuster Inc., Cl. A+..................... 1,530,000
52,500 GC Companies Inc.+........................... 1,575,000
4,000 Liberty Digital Inc.+........................ 93,250
10,000 Loews Cineplex Entertainment+................ 78,750
5,500 Shaw Communications Inc.+.................... 151,594
19,500 Shaw Communications Inc.,
Cl. B (Toronto)........................... 535,955
------------
4,060,662
------------
Equipment -- 1.1%
5,000 Advanced Micro Devices+...................... 85,938
35,000 Allen Telecom Inc.+.......................... 341,250
2,100 Amphenol Corp.+.............................. 104,081
2,000 CommScope Inc.+.............................. 65,000
2,000 Gemstar International Group Ltd.............. 156,250
920 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.......... 92,920
2,500 L-3 Communications Hldgs Inc................. 94,375
5,000 Lucent Technologies Inc...................... 324,375
4,000 Nortel Networks Corp......................... 204,000
152,000 Oak Technology Inc.+......................... 679,250
3,000 Scientific-Atlanta Inc....................... 148,687
3,000 TiVo Inc.+................................... 89,813
------------
2,385,939
------------
International Telephone -- 6.4%
36,000 BCE Inc...................................... 1,793,250
45,000 BCT.Telus Communications Inc................. 938,329
12,000 BCT.Telus Communications Inc., Cl. A......... 246,956
65,000 Cable & Wireless plc, Sponsored ADR.......... 2,153,125
27,000 Compania de Telecomunicaciones de
Chile SA, Sponsored ADR................... 487,687
2,000 Deutsche Telekom AG, ADR+.................... 83,625
10,000 Embratel Participacoes SA+................... 114,375
1,000 France Telecom SA, Sponsored ADR............. 87,062
35,000 GST Telecommunications Inc.+................. 246,094
90 Japan Telecom Co. Ltd........................ 2,106,446
500 Magyar Tavkozlesi Rt, Sponsored ADS.......... 13,625
10 Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp............ 122,642
22,000 Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co........ 478,500
7,000 PT Indosat ADR............................... 94,500
4,320 PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia.................. 29,970
6,000 Quebec-Telephone............................. 64,698
4,000 Rostelecom, Sponsored ADR.................... 18,500
1,000 Sonera Group Oyj............................. 28,948
8,000 Swisscom AG.................................. 251,500
3,300 Tele Centro Sul Participacoes SA+............ 183,150
16,500 Tele Norte Leste Participacoes SA+........... 255,750
16,500 Telecommunicacoes Brasileiras SA
(Telebras), Sponsored ADR................. 516
3,000 Telecom Argentina Stet France
Telecom SA, Sponsored ADR................. 80,063
1,000 Telecom Corp. of New
Zealand Ltd., ADR......................... 32,000
210,000 Telefonica del Peru, Cl. B................... 284,283
500 Telefonica del Peru, Sponsored ADR........... 6,719
3,000 Telefonica de Argentina SA,
Sponsored ADR............................. 79,125
42,840 Telefonica de Espana, Sponsored ADR.......... 2,056,320
12,000 Telefonos De Mexico SA, Cl. L, ADR........... 855,000
16,500 Telesp Participacoes SA...................... 259,875
2,400 Telestra Corp., ADR+......................... 63,300
------------
13,515,933
------------
Satellite -- 1.4%
300 Asia Satellite Telecommunications
Holdings Ltd., Sponsored ADR.............. 7,650
18,044 COMSAT Corp.................................. 534,553
8,000 EchoStar Communications Corp., Cl. A+........ 726,500
10,000 General Motors Corp., Cl. H.................. 572,500
4,000 Globalstar Telecommunications+............... 92,000
18,000 Pegasus Communications Corp.+................ 812,250
45,000 TCI Satellite Entertainment Inc., Cl. A+..... 180,000
------------
2,925,453
------------
Telecommunications -- 3.1%
8,745 Aliant Inc.+................................. 130,886
2,000 Allegiance Telecom Inc....................... 105,250
3,000 Alltel Corp.................................. 211,125
22,500 CoreComm Ltd................................. 741,094
1,000 Eircom plc+.................................. 4,358
16
<PAGE>
The Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust Inc.
Portfolio of Investments (Continued) -- September 30, 1999 (Unaudited)
================================================================================
Market
Shares Value
------ ------
COMMON STOCKS (Continued)
DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES (Continued)
Telecommunications (Continued)
10,000 Electric Lightwave Inc., Cl. A+.............. $ 132,500
12,300 Global Crossing Ltd.+........................ 325,950
3,000 Global Telesystems Group Inc................. 59,156
1,305 Hellenic Telecommunication
Organization SA (OTE)..................... 30,419
10,000 Metromedia International Group Inc.+......... 41,250
43,000 RCN Corporation+............................. 1,763,000
169,000 Rogers Communications Inc.,
Cl. B, ADR+............................... 2,841,312
9,655 Rogers Communications Inc., Cl. B+........... 163,227
3,000 Telegroup Inc.+.............................. 30
6,500 Time Warner Telecom Inc.+.................... 135,688
3,000 USN Communications Inc....................... 30
------------
6,685,275
------------
Telecommunications -- Long Distance -- 1.5%
35,000 AT&T Corp.................................... 1,522,500
5,500 MCI Worldcom Inc............................. 395,312
12,000 Sprint Corp.................................. 651,000
3,000 STARTEC Global Communications
Corp.+.................................... 41,250
22,000 Viatel Inc................................... 650,375
------------
3,260,437
------------
U.S. Regional Operators -- 2.3%
5,000 Cincinnati Bell Inc.......................... 97,188
80,428 Citizens Utilities Co., Cl. B+............... 909,842
24,434 Commonwealth Telephone
Enterprises Inc.+......................... 1,075,096
24,400 Commonwealth Telephone
Enterprises, Cl. B +...................... 1,059,875
11,000 GTE Corp..................................... 845,625
8,000 SBC Communications Inc....................... 408,500
10,000 US West Inc.................................. 570,625
------------
4,966,751
------------
Wireless Communications -- 17.6%
138,000 Aerial Communications Inc.+.................. 3,743,250
6,000 BCE Mobile Communications Inc.
(Toronto)+................................ 238,384
14,000 BCE Mobile Communications Inc.+.............. 555,625
3,000 Cable & Wireless Communications plc,
ADR....................................... 156,375
37,000 CenturyTel Inc............................... 1,503,125
75,000 CommNet Cellular Inc.+....................... 2,348,437
10,000 Iridium World Communications Ltd............. 30,625
16,000 Leap Wireless International Inc.............. 376,000
3,000 Libertel N.V.+............................... 54,117
8,447 NEXTEL Communications Inc., Cl. A+........... 572,812
100 NTT Mobile Communications
Network Inc............................... 1,966,016
75,000 Omnipoint Corp.+............................. 4,190,625
18,000 Price Communications Corp.+.................. 451,125
2,000 Qualcomm Inc.+............................... 378,375
100,500 Rogers Cantel Mobile Communications
Inc., Cl. B+............................. 2,380,594
36,000 Rural Cellular Corp., Cl. A+................. 1,651,500
38,680 SK Telecom Co. Ltd., ADR..................... 398,887
3,500 Sprint Corp. (PCS Group)..................... 260,969
1,650 Tele Celular Sul Participacoes SA............ 31,247
5,500 Tele Centro Oeste Celular
Participacoes SA+......................... 18,219
330 Tele Leste Celular Participacoes SA.......... 10,436
825 Tele Nordeste Celular Participacoes SA....... 18,769
330 Tele Norte Celular Participacoes SA.......... 9,405
3,300 Tele Sudeste Celular Participacoes SA+....... 70,950
300,000 Telecom Italia Mobile SpA.................... 1,864,566
825 Telemig Celular Participacoes SA+............ 24,338
104,000 Telephone and Data Systems Inc............... 9,236,500
6,600 Telesp Celular Participacoes SA+............. 172,425
6,000 Teligent Inc., Cl. A+........................ 298,125
18,000 Total Access Communications plc+............. 34,380
20,000 U.S. Cellular Corp.+......................... 1,360,000
3,500 Vimpel-Communications,
Sponsored ADR+............................ 44,625
7,000 Vodafone AirTouch plc, Sponsored ADR......... 1,664,250
8,000 VoiceStream Wireless Corp.+.................. 493,750
8,000 Western Wireless Corp.+...................... 358,750
9,000 WinStar Communications Inc.+................. 351,562
------------
37,319,138
------------
TOTAL DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES................................. 116,905,417
------------
TOTAL COMMON STOCKS.......................................... 188,695,762
------------
PREFERRED STOCKS -- 2.0%
Consumer Services -- 0.1%
6,000 Cendant Corp., 1.30% Cv. Pfd................. 151,312
------------
Global Media and Entertainment -- 0.8%
62,765 News Corp. Ltd, Sponsored ADR, Pfd........... 1,675,041
------------
Satellite -- 0.1%
15,008 Loral Space & Communications,
6.00% Cv. Pfd............................. 257,950
------------
U.S. Regional Operators -- 1.0%
41,000 Citizens Utilities Co., 5.00% Cv. Pfd........ 2,039,750
------------
TOTAL PREFERRED STOCKS....................................... 4,124,053
------------
COMMON STOCK WARRANTS AND RIGHTS -- 0.0%
200 Havas Advertising Warrants
expires 05/13/01......................... 615
600 Talk.com Inc., Rights,
expires 02/12/00......................... 0
------------
TOTAL COMMON STOCK
WARRANTS AND RIGHTS........................................ 615
------------
17
<PAGE>
The Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust Inc.
Portfolio of Investments (Continued) -- September 30, 1999 (Unaudited)
================================================================================
Principal Market
Amount Value
------- ------
CORPORATE BONDS -- 0.2%
Business Services -- 0.1%
$ 150,000 Trans-Lux Corp., Deb. Cv.,
7.50%, 12/01/06........................... $ 133,125
------------
Computer Software and Services -- 0.0%
50,000 BBN Corp., Sub. Deb. Cv.,
6.00%, 04/01/12 (b)....................... 48,375
------------
Global Media and Entertainment -- 0.0%
20,000 Boston Celtics, Deb.,
6.00%, 06/30/38........................... 11,950
------------
Hotels and Gaming -- 0.1%
300,000 Hilton Hotels Corp., Deb. Cv.
5.00%, 05/15/06........................... 242,625
------------
TOTAL CORPORATE BONDS........................................ 436,075
------------
U.S. Treasury Bills -- 6.9%
14,832,000 4.54% to 4.80%++
due 10/07/99 to 12/02/99.................. 14,763,443
------------
TOTAL INVESTMENTS -- 97.9%(a)
(Cost $124,504,516)........................................ 208,019,948
============
OTHER ASSETS, LIABILITIES AND
LIQUIDATION VALUE OF CUMULATIVE
PREFERRED STOCK -- (12.6%)................................. (26,848,453)
------------
NET ASSETS -- COMMON STOCK
(10,813,315 common shares outstanding) -- 85.3%............ 181,171,495
------------
NET ASSETS -- CUMULATIVE PREFERRED STOCK
(1,250,000 preferred shares outstanding) -- 14.7%.......... 31,250,000
------------
TOTAL NET ASSETS -- 100%..................................... $212,421,495
============
NET ASSET VALUE PER COMMON SHARE
($181,171,495 / 10,813,315 shares outstanding)............. $16.75
======
FUTURES CONTRACT -- SHORT POSITION
Number of Unrealized
Contracts Depreciation
--------- ------------
(50) S&P 500 Index Futures,
December 1999 ............................ ($206,625)
------------
Principal Settlement Unrealized
Amount Date Depreciation
------- --------- ------------
SCHEDULE OF FORWARD FOREIGN
EXCHANGE CONTRACTS
Forward Foreign Contracts to Deliver
3,592,510(c) Hong Kong Dollars in
exchange for
USD $456,076...................... 8/24/00 ($2,426)
------------
- ---------
(a) For Federal tax purposes:
Aggregate cost $124,504,516
============
Gross unrealized appreciation $ 87,202,320
Gross unrealized depreciation (3,686,888)
------------
Net unrealized appreciation $ 83,515,432
============
(b) -- Security fair valued as determined by the Board of Directors.
(c) -- Principal denominated in Hong Kong dollars.
+ -- Non-income producing security
++ -- Represents annualized yield at date of purchase.
ADR -- American Depositary Receipt
ADS -- American Depositary Shares
USD -- United States Dollar
ORD -- Ordinary Share
GDR -- Global Depositary Receipt
% of
Market Market
Value Value
------ ------
Geographic Diversification
United States ............................... 77.7% $161,709,046
Europe ...................................... 7.8 16,268,542
Canada ...................................... 6.2 12,769,316
Asia/Pacific Rim ............................ 5.9 12,278,212
Latin America ............................... 2.4 4,994,832
----- ------------
Total Investments ......................... 100.0% $208,019,948
===== ============
18
<PAGE>
AUTOMATIC DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT
AND VOLUNTARY CASH PURCHASE PLAN
Enrollment in the Plan
It is the policy of The Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust Inc. ("Multimedia
Trust") to automatically reinvest dividends. As a "registered" shareholder you
automatically become a participant in the Multimedia Trust's Automatic Dividend
Reinvestment Plan (the "Plan"). The Plan authorizes the Multimedia Trust to
issue shares to participants upon an income dividend or a capital gains
distribution regardless of whether the shares are trading at a discount or a
premium to net asset value. All distributions to shareholders whose shares are
registered in their own names will be automatically reinvested pursuant to the
Plan in additional shares of the Multimedia Trust. Plan participants may send
their stock certificates to State Street Bank and Trust Company to be held in
their dividend reinvestment account. Registered shareholders wishing to receive
their distribution in cash must submit this request in writing to:
The Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust Inc.
c/o State Street Bank and Trust Company
P.O. Box 8200
Boston, MA 02266-8200
Shareholders requesting this cash election must include the shareholder's
name and address as they appear on the share certificate. Shareholders with
additional questions regarding the Plan may contact State Street Bank and Trust
Company at 1 (800) 336-6983.
Shareholders wishing to liquidate reinvested shares held at State Street
Bank and Trust Company must do so in writing or by telephone. Please submit your
request to the above mentioned address or telephone number. Include in your
request your name, address and account number. The cost to liquidate shares is
$2.50 per transaction as well as the brokerage commission incurred. Brokerage
charges are expected to be less than the usual brokerage charge for such
transactions.
If your shares are held in the name of a broker, bank or nominee, you
should contact such institution. If such institution is not participating in the
Plan, your account will be credited with a cash dividend. In order to
participate in the Plan through such institution, it may be necessary for you to
have your shares taken out of "street name" and re-registered in your own name.
Once registered in your own name your dividends will be automatically
reinvested. Certain brokers participate in the Plan. Shareholders holding shares
in "street name" at such participating institutions will have dividends
automatically reinvested. Shareholders wishing a cash dividend at such
institution must contact their broker to make this change.
The number of shares of Common Stock distributed to participants in the
Plan in lieu of cash dividends is determined in the following manner. Under the
Plan, whenever the market price of the Multimedia Trust's Common Stock is equal
to or exceeds net asset value at the time shares are valued for purposes of
determining the number of shares equivalent to the cash dividends or capital
gains distribution, participants are issued shares of Common Stock valued at the
greater of (i) the net asset value as most recently determined or (ii) 95% of
the then current market price of the Multimedia Trust's Common Stock. The
valuation date is the dividend or distribution payment date or, if that date is
not a NYSE trading day, the next trading day. If the net asset value of the
Common Stock at the time of valuation exceeds the market price of the Common
Stock, participants will receive shares from the Multimedia Trust valued at
market price. If the Multimedia Trust should declare a dividend or capital gains
distribution payable only in cash, State Street will buy Common Stock in the
open market, or on the NYSE or
19
<PAGE>
elsewhere, for the participants' accounts, except that State Street will
endeavor to terminate purchases in the open market and cause the Multimedia
Trust to issue shares at net asset value if, following the commencement of such
purchases, the market value of the Common Stock exceeds the then current net
asset value.
The automatic reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions
will not relieve participants of any income tax which may be payable on such
distributions. A participant in the Plan will be treated for Federal income tax
purposes as having received, on a dividend payment date, a dividend or
distribution in an amount equal to the cash the participant could have received
instead of shares.
The Multimedia Trust reserves the right to amend or terminate the Plan as
applied to any voluntary cash payments made and any dividend or distribution
paid subsequent to written notice of the change sent to the members of the Plan
at least 90 days before the record date for such dividend or distribution. The
Plan also may be amended or terminated by State Street on at least 90 days'
written notice to participants in the Plan.
Voluntary Cash Purchase Plan
The Voluntary Cash Purchase Plan is yet another vehicle for our
shareholders to increase their investment in the Multimedia Trust. In order to
participate in the Voluntary Cash Purchase Plan, shareholders must have their
shares registered in their own name and participate in the Dividend Reinvestment
Plan.
Participants in the Voluntary Cash Purchase Plan have the option of making
additional cash payments to State Street Bank and Trust Company for investments
in the Multimedia Trust's shares at the then current market price. Shareholders
may send an amount from $250 to $10,000. State Street Bank and Trust Company
will use these funds to purchase shares in the open market on or about the 1st
and 15th of each month. State Street Bank and Trust Company will charge each
shareholder who participates $0.75, plus a pro rata share of the brokerage
commissions. Brokerage charges for such purchases are expected to be less than
the usual brokerage charge for such transactions. It is suggested that any
voluntary cash payments be sent to State Street Bank and Trust Company, P.O. Box
8200, Boston, MA 02266-8200 such that State Street receives such payments
approximately 10 days before the investment date. Funds not received at least
five days before the investment date shall be held for investment until the next
purchase date. A payment may be withdrawn without charge if notice is received
by State Street Bank and Trust Company at least 48 hours before such payment is
to be invested.
For more information regarding the Dividend Reinvestment Plan and
Voluntary Cash Purchase Plan, brochures are available by calling (914) 921-5070
or by writing directly to the Multimedia Trust.
20
<PAGE>
DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
THE GABELLI GLOBALMULTIMEDIA TRUST INC.
One Corporate Center, Rye, NY 10580-1434
Directors
Mario J. Gabelli, CFA
Chairman & Chief Investment Officer
Dr. Thomas E. Bratter
President, John Dewey Academy
Felix J. Christiana
Former Senior Vice President
Dollar Dry Dock Savings Bank
James P. Conn
Former Managing Director/Chief Investment Officer,
Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd.
Karl Otto Pohl
Former President, Deutsche Bundesbank
Anthony R. Pustorino
Certified Public Accountant
Professor, Pace University
Salvatore J. Zizza
Chairman, The Bethlehem Corp.
Officers
Mario J. Gabelli, CFA
President & Chief Investment Officer
Bruce N. Alpert
Vice President & Treasurer
Peter W. Latartara
Vice President
James E. McKee
Secretary
Investment Advisor
Gabelli Funds, LLC
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1434
Custodian
State Street Bank and Trust Company
Counsel
Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Transfer Agent and Registrar
State Street Bank and Trust Company
Stock Exchange Listing
Common 7.92% Preferred
------ ---------------
NYSE-Symbol: GGT GGT Pr
Shares Outstanding: 10,813,315 1,250,000
The Net Asset Value appears in the Publicly Traded Funds column, under the
heading "Specialized Equity Funds," in Sunday's The New York Times and
"Specialized Equity Funds" in Monday's The Wall Street Journal. It is also
listed in Barron's Mutual Funds/Closed End Funds section under the heading
"Specialized Equity Funds".
The Net Asset Value may be obtained each day by calling (914) 921-5071.
------------------------------------------------
For general information about the Gabelli Funds,
call 1-800-GABELLI (1-800-422-3554), fax us
at 914-921-5118, visit Gabelli Funds' Internet
homepage at: http://www.gabelli.com
or e-mail us at: [email protected]
------------------------------------------------
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 23(c) of the Investment
Company Act of 1940, as amended, that the Multimedia Trust may from time to time
purchase shares of its Common Stock in the open market when the Multimedia Trust
shares are trading at a discount of 10% or more from the net asset value of the
shares. The Multimedia Trust may also, from time to time, purchase shares of its
Cumulative Preferred Stock in the open market when the shares are trading at a
discount to the Liquidation Value of $25.00.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21
<PAGE>
THE GABELLI GLOBAL MULTIMEDIA TRUST INC.
One Corporate Center
Rye, NY 10580-1434
(914) 921-5070
http:/ /www.gabelli.com
Third Quarter Report
September 30, 1999
GBFMT 09/99
