[Hum]

In the end it took an act of Congress, but US television advertisers are finally required to do something parents have been pleading for for decades: turn down their excessively loud ads.

?A small bill with a big impact for the American consumer? is how Representative Ann Eshoo described the CALM Act, which came into force on Thursday to the blessed relief of countless television watchers.

?TV is about to become quieter,? she said.

For years Americans have endured television with excessively loud commercials, but the CALM Act ? short for Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation ? is changing that.

?The rules adopted today require that commercials have the same average volume as the programs they accompany,? the Federal Communications Commission, which Congress empowered to enforce the new measures, said in a statement.

Last December, Congress approved the measure, which the FCC hailed as ?a major step toward eliminating one of the most persistent problems of the television age ? loud commercials.?

Advertisers were given a year to prepare for the new rules.

more

[Lovell]

Never thought I'd see the day I actually agree with the FCC...

[Raa]

Finally. I thought it was just me, but everyone agreed : some adverts are obscenely loud...

[n_K]

Wow, the US makes it illegal but it's still legal in the UK!

[spacer]

I was excited about this rule, until I read the "average" part. It will still be possible for commercials to have loud parts, much louder than they should be, as long as others are lower. It still gives them a chance to be annoying, but I guess it's better than nothing.

[Detection]

Wow, the US makes it illegal but it's still legal in the UK!

Yea, I hate that, especially at night watching something quiet and then GO COMPAAAAAAAAAAAAARE

I swear if I ever see that guy on the street....

[+SOOPRcow MVC]

I was excited about this rule, until I read the "average" part. It will still be possible for commercials to have loud parts, much louder than they should be, as long as others are lower. It still gives them a chance to be annoying, but I guess it's better than nothing.

The law actually doesn't allow that.

Law: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111s2847enr/pdf/BILLS-111s2847enr.pdf

Required Implementation as created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee: http://www.aice.org/pdf/ATSC_a_85-2009.pdf

Enjoy :)

[123456789A]

Billy Mays is rolling over in his grave :(

[Hum]

God bless the Mute button. :shifty:

[Lord Method Man]

People still watch Television with commercial breaks?

[ILikeTobacco]

God bless the Mute button. :shifty:

Random thought.... make channels required to play a 1 or 2 second clip when adverts start and another one when adverts end. TV's are then programmed to be able to automatically mute adverts using those two clips to detect when that should be done.

[Raa]

People still watch Television with commercial breaks?

No, usually the really loud noise means I automatically push "fast-forward" on last night's recorded show. :p

[Jojo81]

I have a pretty old box tv and it has an option that prevents sudden volume changes between programming shifts. I figured all modern lcd/led tvs would have something like this builtin as well.

[Marshall Veteran]

On modern flat screen TV's, using the auto-volume setting helps a lot. At least it does on my Samsung.

If you haven't already, go to your TV's audio settings and see if this feature is available.

[Growled Member]

They finally got something right. I'm in shock.

[wrack]

Bring this to Australia. For the love of earbuds...

[Brian M. Veteran]

Wow, the US makes it illegal but it's still legal in the UK!

It's nowhere near as bad in the UK as it is in the US.

[nub]

This was actually passed like a year ago. Its just now taking effect.

[DAOWAce]

Those acronyms.

Can we get internet ads to lower their volume too?

And before anyone says "adblock", I say back to you; don't hurt people who work releasing videos or streaming for a living (Youtube, Twitch, etc.).

[DocM]

They finally got something right. I'm in shock.

Amen, brother. This is the first really useful thing the FCC's done in ages.

[Colin McGregor]

They finally got something right. I'm in shock.

The FCC has done several good things. Am I missing something or is this normal neowin useless hate like EA or Geek squad.

[Nashy]

On modern flat screen TV's, using the auto-volume setting helps a lot. At least it does on my Samsung.

If you haven't already, go to your TV's audio settings and see if this feature is available.

Unfortunately on a lot of televisions, especially cheaper models, this can really hurt the sound quality in movies, especially action movies :-(

I wish they would do this in Australia on both TV and radio, it ****es me off.

[Marshall Veteran]

Unfortunately on a lot of televisions, especially cheaper models, this can really hurt the sound quality in movies, especially action movies :-(

I wish they would do this in Australia on both TV and radio, it ****es me off.

Agreed, they definitely need to enforce this on radio as well. It's annoying to say the least.

[Hum]

I either hit Mute, change channels, or leave the room for food & pee breaks. :p

[Dick Montage]

1 word: Bodyform!