US moves to ban 'excessively noisy' TV advertisements

[imcarthur]

from BBC

"The US House of Representatives has approved a bill which aims to limit the volume of television advertisements. The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM) was approved by a voice vote in the house.

Democrat Anna Eshoo, who filed the motion, said most Americans were willing to tolerate adverts but were annoyed by sudden volume increases. She said broadcasting industry's current voluntary system had failed to deal with the issue.

The CALM bill means that within a year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must introduce guidelines proposed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) in November. Under the rules, "excessively noisy or strident" advertisements would be banned, as would adverts which are noticeably louder - or have a "maximum loudness substantially higher" - than the programme they accompany. "

More curbing of individual rights or is everybody OK with this one?

Ian

[porsche4life]

It is curbing of rights... But I wouldn't complain...

[MotoSook]

I don't see how this is a curbing of individual rights. I have a right to enjoy a bit of TV without some ad blasting at me to buy some product I don need. Scrambling for the remote to turn down the volume ......

[sprio]

I would think the Congress has better things to do with their time, considering the state this country is in.

'Nuff said.

[imcarthur]

Not even a whiff of righteous indignation about the expanding nanny state? I guess I should have posted it in PARF. They're indignant about everything . . .

Ian

[Buckterrier]

Someone asked a while ago about louder commercials. The reply was there is a Db limit. The networks have their programing at a lower level. Some commercials come on at or near the Db max. So they are louder.
Don't have to ruin anyones rights etc. Just keep all levels the same, geez, it's not rocket science.

[gr8fl4porsche]

I'm all for it. Last night watching TV, a couple of commercials were so loud I had to do the remote scramble and listen to the wife scream for me to turn it down.

[exc911ence]

Don't these advertising folks understand that if they force the veiwing public to mute thier TVs due to the commercial's elevated volume, their message isn't getting through? If anything, they should be at a lower volume forcing the viewer to concentrate on the message being delivered.

[desertt5]

We turn ours down on about ever commercial. At least if Congress is wasting time when they should be fixing something important, I will enjoy the change.

[hcariss]

Yikes looks like those of us in the Ad biz will actually have to do something creative to get your attention, wheres my pesky pencil.

[Schumi]

Originally Posted by exc911ence

Don't these advertising folks understand that if they force the veiwing public to mute thier TVs due to the commercial's elevated volume, their message isn't getting through? If anything, they should be at a lower volume forcing the viewer to concentrate on the message being delivered.

Hire this man!

[GH85Carrera]

There are several commercials that are pushed to the max volume. They can play in the middle of a string of other commercials and still be louder than everything else. The most obnoxious is Whataburger's commercials. I used to be a customer, not anymore. I will never set foot inside of one again. Commercials need to be regulated down to the same median volume of the rest on the broadcast.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by sprio

I would think the Congress has better things to do with their time, considering the state this country is in.

'Nuff said.

+ about a million

[Rick Lee]

I'd rather Congress spend their time on such BS, which really is part of their Constitutional purview as regulating interstate commerce and FCC oversight, than doing things to really curb my individual rights, which is what they spend most of their time trying to do. I am very annoyed by ALL commercials, but don't think they require gov't. action. Aside from Seinfeld reruns and some news, I only have the tv on in the background. Some commercials I see over and over, I do notice and most of them insult my intelligence and/or use poor English grammar. So I make it a point to never patronize those companies.

[stealthn]

YOU'LL LOVE MY NUTS...

Yes please equalize it all and let us decide what and how loud we want to listen to things.

[Burnin' oil]

I do not need Congress doing anything to protect me from loud ads. I think I can handle it on my own.

[A930Rocket]

I would rather them spend time on and pass this than some other BS.

[flatbutt]

So it's OK for the Congress to spend valuable time on meaningless legislation because it prevents them for doing any real harm?

I don't think thats working to well for us.

[mattdavis11]

Whatcha bet that political advertisements are exempt?

[gtc]

Originally Posted by exc911ence

Don't these advertising folks understand that if they force the veiwing public to mute thier TVs due to the commercial's elevated volume, their message isn't getting through? If anything, they should be at a lower volume forcing the viewer to concentrate on the message being delivered.

From my experience, the average Joe or Jane leaves the TV on all night until they go to bed, whether they're in the same room or not. They don't even care what's playing - as long as the TV is on they are OK. In this case, loud commercials make sense - you can hear them no matter where you are in the house.
I have a friend who's stepmother is like this... she'll be upstairs folding laundry or something, but if you turn off the TV she'll come down within five minutes and try to turn it back on.