Jay481985 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/12/loud-tv-commercials-outlawed-fcc-rules Listen up, TV advertisers: Big Brother is muting you! Well, not entirely. But beginning at midnight tonight, new Federal Communications Commission rules will bar television networks from blasting viewers with those excessively loud, screamy commercial breaks. At last you can retrieve your sanity from and the KIA Hamsters. (The rules will not, however, get those damn kids off your lawn.)Adopted a year ago Thursday, the rules "will require commercials to have the same average volume as the programs they accompany," the FCC says. The commission was prompted to action last year when Congress passed the "Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act"—the CALM Act. (Never mind the irony of regulating ads with legislation that sounds like it was named in a focus group.) The enactment raises a host of questions—for example, what will happen to companies that make "volume leveling adaptors"?—and the FCC has set up a handy Q&A site for consumers. It includes pearls of wisdom such as this: Q: What can I do about loud commercials until the new rules take effect? A: Manually controlling volume levels with the remote control remains the simplest way to reduce excessive loudness levels. The "mute" button on your TV remote is also useful to control excessively loud audio... Seriously, though, the site needs your help in identifying rogue advertisers and their networks ("Tell Us About Loud Commercials"). So starting tomorrow morning, if this happens to you, simply report the violators to 1-888-TELL-FCC: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerolW Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Yay. jerol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
germerikan Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 [^o)] I´m a little worried that people had to be advised what to do until the rule is in effect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2point1 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I can't believe it, the fcc actually did something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigStewMan Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I can't believe it, the fcc actually did something. yeah; but, i've lost over 60% of my hearing (thank you rock-n-roll) so perhaps they can force the networks to put better shows on tv [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 My TV has a smart sound function that controls such things. I'm not going to turn it off because there is a large difference between volume between different stations more so than between programs and commercials on the same channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardP Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Don't get too excited: the law only applies to broadcast (over-the-air) channels, not cable channels. The FCC does not regulate cable to the same extent as broadcasts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 There is also a huge difference in volume between digital and analog channels. Yes, there are still a few analog channels. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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