The ratings hierarchy assigns letter grades to debt securities and their issuers based on their likelihood of default, with AAA indicating the highest creditworthiness and lowest risk of default and D signaling an issuer that has entered into bankruptcy. A similar ratings system has also been adopted by S&P Global Ratings.

Fitch Ratingsįounded in 1913 by John Knowles Fitch, Fitch Ratings introduced the AAA through D rating system in the 1920s. The SEC has since added more NRSROs, but Fitch, S&P and Moody’s still dominate this landscape.

While they are private companies, as of 1975, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) designated these three agencies as nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSROs). Each agency uses a proprietary evaluation methodology, so they may offer differing ratings for the same security. There are three main bond rating agencies in the United States that account for approximately 95% of all bond ratings: Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings (S&P Global Ratings) and Moody’s Investors Service. In general, higher-risk bonds need to offer higher interest rates to appear worthwhile to investors. But instead of assessing an individual’s likelihood of repaying their debts, a bond rating agency determines whether the issuers of debt securities like bonds are likely to fulfill their promises to pay interest and repay the principal you loaned them.īond investors rely on rating agencies to help them decide where to invest their money and whether the risk involved in buying a debt security is worth the promised interest rate. What Are Bond Rating Agencies?īond rating agencies work somewhat like credit bureaus in that they both research financial information to determine creditworthiness. These private companies assess the creditworthiness of bonds and the companies or governments that issue them. The numbers below also don’t include streaming, which makes up a significant portion of the audience for a number of shows.Bond rating agencies help you understand the risks of investing in bonds. Series that aired fewer than three episodes during the season, continuations of summer shows from the previous season and sports pre- and postgame shows are excluded. The charts below are seven-day averages for the full 2021-22 TV season (Sept. The swan song for NBC’s This Is Us finished first among adults 18-49 with a 1.6 rating it was the top network drama in the demo for each of its six seasons. Tubi Joins Nielsen Platform Rankings, Overtakes Pluto TVĪmong entertainment programs, CBS’ NCIS led the viewer charts with 10.9 million people per episode.