Corus Entertainment Inc.

The negative outlook reflects S&P Global Ratings' view that negative industry conditions will continue to weigh on Corus' EBITDA generation and strain the company's deleveraging plan. We expect the company's credit measures to modestly improve to about 3.5x in fiscal 2020; however, in our view, there is an increased risk that the company will be challenged to improve credit measures if Corus cannot address the secular industry pressures. We could lower the ratings if Corus' adjusted debt-to-EBITDA increases and is sustained above 4x over the next 12 months. We believe this scenario could result from margin deterioration of more than 150 basis points from topline pressures, weak industry conditions stemming from audience erosion and fragmentation, and lower advertising spend and

...Corus enjoys a favorable market position, with a niche focus on women and children specialty channels.Corus Entertainment Inc. is the second-largest media company in Canada and has about a 34.5% market share of English-language television viewership and about a 95% reach in English Canada, post the Shaw Media acquisition. Corus has six of the top 10 specialty television channels for adults aged 25¡54, seven of the top 10 specialty television channels among women aged 25¡54, and eight of the top 10 specialty television channels for kids aged 2¡11. In S&P Global Ratings' view, the company's favorable market position provides relatively higher pricing power and greater influence on broadcasters, advertisers, and content suppliers. Structural headwinds in advertising and media consumption could test the company's growth aspirations.We expect Corus' operations to remain pressured due to weak industry fundamentals caused by underlying shifts in media consumption and increasing online advertising...

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