Fitch Credit Encyclo-Media: Event Risk Will Continue to Plague IG Media Issuers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to Fitch Ratings' fifth annual 'Credit Encyclo-Media' report, changes in financial policy and acquisition risk (including the risk of increased leverage) rank has the greatest event risk plaguing investment grade issuers.

In this year's edition Fitch has introduced an event risk analysis - the Event Risk Dashboard - which lays out a series of event risk categories and Fitch's opinion of the relative risk associated with each category. As with any event risk, material changes in a company's financial or business position or events (such as judgments or changes in regulation) that increase risk to bondholders will likely lead to negative rating actions.

Fitch believes that the issuers under Fitch's coverage are committed to their current ratings. However, actions, such as Dun & Bradstreet's willingness to increase leverage to fund accelerated share repurchases, demonstrate the form of event risk that can impact ratings.

Within individual event risk categories, Fitch notes that the concentrated ownership/voting control in many media issuers, such as CBS, Viacom, Liberty Interactive and Nielsen Company drive's Fitch's ranking of corporate governance related event risk as high.

Fitch's 'Credit Encyclo-Media' report is a comprehensive analysis of the U.S. media and entertainment sector with detailed data and opinions on 25 individual issuers and 27 industry segments. In addition to the event risk analysis for each company in Fitch's rated portfolio, this edition of the report includes an expanded section on Tablets and e-books and over 100 new tables/charts.

The full 'Credit Encyclo-Media' is available at 'www.fitchratings.com.'

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

Credit Encyclo-Media Volume V: Fitch's Comprehensive Analysis of the U.S. Media & Entertainment Sector

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=685792

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE.