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Senate Votes To Turn Down Volume On TV Commercials

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the dear-god-yes-please dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "Ever since television caught on in the 1950s, the FCC has been getting complaints about blaring commercials but concluded in 1984 there was no fair way to write regulations controlling the 'apparent loudness' of commercials. Now the AP reports that the Senate has unanimously passed a bill to require television stations and cable companies to keep commercials at the same volume as the programs they interrupt using industry guidelines on how to process, measure and transmit audio in a uniform way. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), a co-sponsor, says it's time to stop the use of loud commercials to startle viewers into paying attention. 'TV viewers should be able to watch their favorite programs without fear of losing their hearing when the show goes to a commercial.' The House has already passed similar legislation, so before the new measure becomes law, minor differences between the two versions have to be worked out when Congress returns to Washington after the November 2 election."

14 of 625 comments (clear)

  1. It's almost as if by tekrat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Congress was working for the people... Is this some kind of sick joke meant to lull us into thinking that every congressman isn't in the pockets of big business? Hrrrmm. It's getting near election time, that must be it...

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
    1. Re:It's almost as if by parkrrrr · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You mean "Also, the Republicans will...." Fish gotta swim, Republicans gotta screw us, Democrats gotta screw up.

    2. Re:It's almost as if by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You mean "Also, the Republicans will...." Fish gotta swim, Republicans gotta screw us, Democrats gotta screw up.

      "Everyone in Congress is on the same side, and it's not the one you're on"

    3. Re:It's almost as if by commodore64_love · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >>>the #STRING will still find some way to fuck it up.

      where #STRING alternates between "Democrats" and "Republicans". Stop wasting your vote on the same D or R screwage. Vote third party. Even if you lose you can brag, "Well I didn't vote for either asshole. Can't blame me."

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    4. Re:It's almost as if by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Funny

      There was an episode of "The Simpsons" (from back when that show did real satire) that summed it up nicely. We see a Republican convention, and the conventioneers are holding up signs that read "We're evil" and "We only care about the rich!" Then it cuts to the Democratic convention and they're holding up signs that read "We can't govern!" and "Incompetence Now!"

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  2. Bit Mental by Mike+Mentalist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Does this sort of thing really need to have the law getting involved? It's only a small irritant.

    Is it a bit of deflection from the real issues that are going on at the moment?

    --
    I put my books on Amazon, Smashwords, Demonoid, ISOHunt and Pirate Bay. Search for 'Michael Cargill'
    1. Re:Bit Mental by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Does this sort of thing really need to have the law getting involved? It's only a small irritant.

      Is it a bit of deflection from the real issues that are going on at the moment?

      I was going to try to write this preemptively, but slashdot idiocy prevails...

      A) This is a problem, and potentially a safety issue as well. As more and more people use (ear|head)(buds|phones), the insane relative loudness will certainly contribute to very premature hearing loss. (Ever watch 24, the commercials were easily 20+ dBa louder than the program; if 75 dBa is comfortable, abruptly switching to 95 dBa is startling at least, and likely damaging, even for the brief period prior to hitting mute or fast-forward).

      B) The industry has had decades to regulate itself; the government has so far exercised uncharacteristic restraint (something slashdotters are quick to bemoan) in legislating a fix.

  3. Uncharacteristic: by boneclinkz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Normally I'm pretty apathetic about political nonsense, but something about this story enrages me. This is just so unbelievably frivolous, but it sure will play well to the average voter who probably watches 40 hours of television a week and strongly agrees with the statement that "TV viewers should be able to watch their favorite programs without fear of losing their hearing when the show goes to a commercial."

    It's not that I'm especially fond of advertisers, it's just that I have trouble acknowledging a world where ANYBODY GIVES A FUCK about this "issue".

    1. Re:Uncharacteristic: by spiffmastercow · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Obviously you don't have children. When you spend 2 hours trying to get your kid to sleep, and then turn on your favorite show while you finally have some down time, the last thing you want is Billy Mays waking your kid up before you can mute the TV.

  4. No, it is practical by drumcat · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Umm... how about Root Mean Square calculation? I use it all the time. I have to master audio and the funny thing is unlike Creed & Nickelback, I care about not just peaks, but overall sound. It can be done.

  5. Re:Smart Sound by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I torrent everything I watch. Commercials are not a problem for me.

  6. Thank God, but it is too late by gblackwo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I already dropped cable for dsl, netflix, hulu and hd over the air. I am 22, not only does my generation not need landlines, but we don't need cable either.

  7. Re:Congress has it's priorities by nedlohs · · Score: 5, Informative

    Surprise surprise, things that don't really matter are easier to come to agreement on than things that are considered important and on which very different opinions are held.

    Amazing!

  8. Re:This is impractical by zero_out · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It can definitely be done. In fact, about 6 years ago I was tasked with designing and coding an automatic volume control based on ambient room noise. It was not easy, believe me, but using Root Mean Square, I was able to get it to work. This ensured that the device would either be louder than the ambient sound if you wanted to use it as a public announcement system, such as in a school, or provide background music that didn't drown out conversation. The hardest part was determining the sample buffer. Do you adjust the volume based on the last second of ambient sound? The last 10 seconds? The last minute? It took some tweaking, but an optimal sample buffer was found.

    Now, for a TV show, that is a bit easier. Simply get an RMS of the show before airing it, as well as the peak volume, do the same for each commercial, and adjust the commercial volume accordingly. It's not a difficult problem at all. In fact, I could probably write an application to do it all automatically within a week or two, but no more than a month. It would take sound stream input, sample the entire stream from beginning to end, then determine a relative volume for each one.

    The problem hasn't been a technical one for over a decade. It's been a political one.