TV Commercials Too Loud? – President Obama May Turn Down The Volume

Your grandparents complained about it.  Your parents complained about it.  Admit it - you complain about it too.   Commercials on television are too loud!  It's a fact, TV commercials are, on average, six to ten decibels louder than "your regularly-scheduled programming."   That's roughly the difference between speaking in a normal tone, and YELLING!  Even consumers who use TiVo or other DVR-type devices to skip commercials can get a blast of errant commercial audio, if they don't dive for the remote soon enough.

Legislation to turn down the volume on those loud TV commercials that send couch potatoes diving for their remote controls looks like it'll soon become law.

The Senate unanimously passed a bill late Wednesday to require television stations and cable companies to keep commercials at the same volume as the programs they interrupt.

Ever since television caught on in the 1950s, the Federal Communication Commission has been getting complaints about blaring commercials.  But the FCC concluded in 1984 there was no fair way to write regulations controlling the "apparent loudness" of commercials. So it hasn't been regulating them.

The bill is called CALM:  The Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation Act.

Advertisers have habitually produced commercials to intentionally eclipse programming volume, to get your attention - as you head off for a snack, use the bathroom, or otherwise tune-out their messages.

The bill will eventually go before the president, for approval.

via Washington Examiner.