01:46 PM EDT, 03/27/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with additional details in the third and fourth paragraphs.)

S&P Global Ratings said Wednesday it has downgraded Paramount Global's ( PARAA ) rating to BB+ from BBB- due to the degradation of credit metrics from the hastening declines in linear media and the shift toward a less certain and more competitive streaming model.

The outlook is stable, the rating agency said.

Paramount's S&P Global Ratings-adjusted leverage is expected to decline toward 4x in 2024 and 3.6x by 2025 from 4.9x in 2023, while its free operating cash flow to debt ratio is seen to be below the 10% threshold, reaching 4% in 2024 and a range of 6% to 7% in 2025 compared with 2% in 2023, according to S&P Global Ratings.

Paramount's current credit metrics are weak for a BB+ rating and the company must implement a strategy to significantly reduce streaming losses within the next couple of years to lessen further downside pressure on its ratings, according to S&P Global Ratings.

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