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Ban On Loud TV Commercials Takes Effect Today

Posted by timothy on from the watch-for-workarounds dept.

netbuzz writes "A new law banning broadcasters from delivering TV commercials at a higher volume takes effect today at the end of a yearlong implementation period. Called the CALM Act, or Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, the law does provide for violators to be fined. TV commercials that crank up the volume have been the No. 1 complaint logged with the FCC over the last 10 years."

7 of 383 comments (clear)

  1. Myth TV plugin? by Hatta · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It seems that the FCC is relying on citizen complaints for enforcement. I think a great opportunity is to be had by a Myth TV plugin that automatically checks the RMS amplitude of the commercials and forwards a complaint if it's outside of spec. Clearly we can't rely on the FCC to actually monitor the airwaves for enforcement, but we could do so ourselves pretty easily.

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    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  2. And Internet Streaming? by FurtiveGlancer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Does the law encompass Hulu and other internet streaming services? Loud and repetitious ads are worse than merely repetitious ads.

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    Invenio via vel creo
  3. Re:I am so relieved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you live in an apartment (or even just share a house with other people), suddenly-fluctuating sound levels can pose quite a problem -- particularly if you like to watch TV at night. Commercials are nothing, though, compared to the foley mix on just about every DVD I've ever watched (why they can't come up with a dialogue-prominent audio track I'll never understand).

  4. sometime it's just stupidity by Thud457 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    One of our local stations seems incompetently unable to match the line level when they insert their local commercials into the national feed. This also happens on certain cable channels, so maybe it's the cable operator at fault.

    I've seen this kind of idiocy many places on many different cable and OTA systems.

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    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    1. Re:sometime it's just stupidity by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      So, will this address the commercials compressing their sound so that it SEEMS to sound louder...?

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      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  5. Re:Great Taxpayer Spending by geekoid · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes, stupid government responding to an outcry from the people~

    You want roads and better education? Tell the republicans to reinstate the proper taxes to support those expenses.

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  6. Re:Mixed feelings. by PapaSmurphy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Your only choice as a consumer is to just turn off TVs.

    Which, BTW, is an excellent choice.

    Yep, it sure is! It works in all similar situations too.

    Don't regulate spam. If people don't want spam, they can just turn off their internet.

    Don't regulate traffic speed. If people don't want car wrecks, they can just turn not drive anywhere.

    Don't regulate yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater. If people don't want to be stampeded to death, they can just not go out in public.

    See, this works for everything doesn't it.