Moody's anticipates more downgrades for broadcasters

NEW YORK - Moody's Investors Service said that additional rating downgrades are "likely", as the contracting US economy's adverse impact on broadcast revenues is already at the high end of its forecasted range in 2009.Last October, Moody's predicted that broadcasters would experience a 15-20% average year over year decline in 2009 verses 2008. The rating agency used the lower end of that range spread evenly through the year as its initial assumptions in forecasting each company's revenue, which has led to downgrades and negative rating outlooks for about 28 companies so far. Noting “a high likelihood of ratings volatility for broadcasters”, Moody’s released...