Yes, we should ban loud commercials

[Kludge]

In the process of looking for a picture of a mute guy to crudely make a snide remark, I found this fantastic opinion piece.

"It isn’t the most pressing issue of our time. But it surely is one of the most annoying. So I’m putting aside my skepticism of government trying to solve all our social ills to cheer a bill working its way through Congress that would eliminate BLARINGLY LOUD television commercials.

H.R. 1084, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM), got a big boost recently when the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed it on a voice vote. Sponsored by Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), the measure would prevent television advertisements from playing at a volume noticeably above the programs during which they air. The bill will now go to the floor for consideration in the full House; Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) is said to be ready to introduce a similar measure in the Senate.

Okay, before you start: yes, I know how to work the mute button on my remote. Likewise, I know I can always leave the room. Or DVR programs so I can fast-forward through the commercials. But I don’t see why I -- or millions of other television viewers -- should have to suffer even one second of these obnoxious (not to mention harmful to hearing) advertisements. Having set the volume of my television, why should an outside entity be able to override that choice? Unhappiness with blaring commercials ranks as the most persistent consumer complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. The best it has managed to come up with is for viewers to be quick on the draw in hitting the mute button. The television and cable industry are moving to put voluntary standards in place, but it’s clear they only acted because of threat of congressional action.

Eshoo says that never in her 17 years in the House has she carried a bill for which there has been so much enthusiasm: “Only the ‘Do Not Call List has even come close.” And, that, to my mind, is another reason to like the bill: it’s a slim glimmer of hope at a time of bitter partisanship that there are still some issues on which Democrats and Republicans are able to put the rancor aside."

(I refuse to link back, but will say it was taken from The Washington Post's website)

[Mahkato]

Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM)

Let me guess: 'commercial' ads will be subject to restrictions, but 'non-commercial' ads (read: political and non-profit) will still be blaringly loud?

[Danke]

I wonder if we could get Anna G. Eshoo to ban those obnoxious thumbs-up on forum posts?

[Icymudpuppy]

Another good reason not to watch television.

[Jeremy]

Why don't you get a TV that can change the volume automatically

[TonySutton]

I change the channel.

[dvictr]

if you have cable.. cancel the subscription
if you use over the air free broad casting.. turn it off

[FindLiberty]

if you have cable.. Cancel the subscription
if you use over the air free broad casting.. Turn it off

+100 !!!

[Krugerrand]

I don't think actors should be allowed to wear green.

[RyanRSheets]

With all the other shit the FCC does, audio normalization would seem like a pretty modest role. It would be easy to support something like this, but it's such a ridiculous idea for a law. The people are more than capable of fixing this without the government, and this will only push us further toward dependence.

[evilfunnystuff]

a law like this would be stupid

do this and you wont get good immersing theatrical sound from your movies on cable

get a tv with an audio stabilization option or buy the stand alone unit like this one http://www.smarthome.com/7848T/TV-Volume-Regulator-VR-1/p.aspx

then you can be in control instead of the govt

or you could just cancel your cable and do away with commercils altoghther like i did about a year ago

[Matt Collins]

I am an audio engineer professionally.

They are not raising the actual volume as much as they are raising what is called the
"perceived loudness". Here is a description of a similar issue in the music industry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_wars


There are TVs out there that will compensate for that. Buy one if you care that much.

Also the federal government should not be creating ANY rules or regulations regarding this because the Constitution does not permit it to do so.

[Reason]

I don't own a TV

I am better off.

[dannno]

Cancel your cable subscription.

[dr. hfn]

constitutional? NO!

[legion]

From each audio signal according to its ability, to each listener according to his need.

The dynamic range is a Bourgeoisie lie!

Everything must be normalized!

[dgr]

you can buy a device for your TV that automatically corrects the volume of the commercials

[DamianTV]

I can tell you from first hand experience that regardless if the law passes or not, its just not ever going to happen.

Here's why: In the broadcast world, everything that goes on air goes thru something called Master Control. Master Control is ultimately responsible for everything. This includes audio levels. Master Control used to be a job where someone would have to be at the TV station 24 hours per day, but thats just not the case anymore. Only one in about SIX stations have a Master Control department. The rest are fully automated. And their automation sucks. Sure they might get most of their stuff to air, but as far as transferring the content from whatever format the distributor puts it in and sets those levels to match that stations reference levels. The TV stations are all getting hammered just as hard as every other business, and they are looking to cut corners. For some that means not buying equipment capable of measuring audio levels, not paying compitent MC's so they end up getting the cream of the crap people in there that dont know how to adjust audio levels, or worst case scenario, they cut Master Control entirely and try to leave all that work to a different department.

When the video levels are screwy, it looks funny but its not annoying like loud commercials, but when audio levels are off, lets say for a second they are too low, no one complains, but when they are too high, everyone complains to the FCC.

In short, people dont know how to do their jobs, dont have the equipment to do their jobs, or there is no one there to do that job at all. So even if the law passes, it still wont do jack squat to getting rid of annoyingly loud commercials.

[newbitech]

commercials? really? do people still pay attention to those?

[Mach]

I called satellite and complained a while back, they said they didn't have control, it supposedly was coming directly from the stations like that, I told'em they'd better do something or they were going to start losing customers... oh yeah, and I told him he was full of shit.

The audio is rising, sometimes it freakin' blares, big difference!

They are trying to put their words in your head even if you don't pay conscious attention to them, even if you're not that close.

When a commercial comes on, I surf channels, I think they are conspiring against me, the two shows I want to watch have commercials at about the same time on and off all the time. It's probably an Industry Standard thing. :D

[newbitech]

I called satellite and complained a while back, they said they didn't have control, it supposedly was coming directly from the stations like that, I told'em they'd better do something or they were going to start losing customers... oh yeah, and I told him he was full of shit.

The audio is rising, sometimes it freakin' blares, big difference!

They are trying to put their words in your head even if you don't pay conscious attention to them, even if you're not that close.

When a commercial comes on, I surf channels, I think they are conspiring against me, the two shows I want to watch have commercials at about the same time on and off all the time. It's probably an Industry Standard thing. :D

That is also one of the reasons I stopped listening to FM radio. It didn't always used to be like that. Used to be for instance if you liked rock, there were a couple of stations you could switch between. When one started playing commercials, you could just flip it over. Now, pretty much when one station goes on break, THEY ALL go on break. Even the country, hip-hop and friggin spanish stations. So buh bye FM dial.

[kathy88]

commercials? really? do people still pay attention to those?


My five year old does. Apparently I should get Proactive. (The zit medicine) LOL.

[evilfunnystuff]

My five year old does. Apparently I should get Proactive. (The zit medicine) LOL.


it works lol

[getch36]

Just what we need-more laws........

[Kludge]

I've never encountered this except when it's the government PSAs. They sometimes start them excessively loud and purposefully add stuttering in the A/V... Makes me want to start a forest fire out of spite.

[Matt Collins]

Lawmaker wants to control volume on your TV:
http://politics.nashvillepost.com/2009/12/23/lawmaker-wants-to-control-the-volume-on-your-tv-set/

[GunnyFreedom]

This is part of the reason why I cancelled cable and trashed my TV.

[Kludge]

Lol... This law was passed today.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/12/calm-act-passed-will-quiet-loud-tv-commercials-within-a-year.ars

[IPSecure]

Commercials? We do not need any stinking commercials...

DVRMSToolbox (http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/p/20283/99008.aspx): Automated Commercial Detection, Skipping, and much more.

:cool:

[Knightskye]

Isn't that precedence for more government regulation?

[eOs]

There's even a term for it in urbandictionary: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=adverblasting

[Anti Federalist]

I wonder if we could get Anna G. Eshoo to ban those obnoxious thumbs-up on forum posts?

Look who's back.

Good to see ya'.

:D

[Kludge]

Look who's back.

Good to see ya'.

:D

12-02-2009, 10:16 AM :(

Bumped to give update that bill was passed

[tnvoter]

Another good reason not to watch television.

Many online channels do this as well, unfortunately.

[Kludge]

Many online channels do this as well, unfortunately.

Comedy Central is particularly bad. I love watching the Lewis Black episodes, but missing the mute button in time for a commercial 3-4x the volume of the normal programming is very frustrating.

At another place a lived, we had Comcast & their DVR service. The remote was programmable so I set it to skip 30 seconds with the press of a button to go through the commercials quickly without missing the show. It was very convenient. It's also useful if you want to leave the TV area - you can pause live tv and then skip through the commercials when you come back and unpause the feed since it saves the last 2h of TV you've watched.

[ivflight]

This particular example really frustrates me. It is very saddening that I can't think of a reason that the market didn't immediately stop this bs. I simply cannot think of a reason to justify playing the commercials way louder than the show.

If I were the advertiser I would not want this because I know people would change the channel or mute (that's what most people I know do) rather than possibly listen.

I don't believe for a second that much louder commercials are helping anyone's advertising scheme or increasing sales.

It's just dumb from all angles.

[DamianTV]

Just get some sort of DVR or TiVo and skip passed all their bullshit.

[Rael]

I don't agree with the law, but since I hate loud commercials I am not particularly
upset about it

[Elwar]

Can't wait to see the next in a line up of more great regulations of my TV!!!

I don't speak spanish, so they need to get rid of those annoying spanish channels. I shouldn't have to lose one second as I go to those channels and see a show that might be interesting but then realize that it's in spanish.

[GunnyFreedom]

Can't wait to see the next in a line up of more great regulations of my TV!!!

I don't speak spanish, so they need to get rid of those annoying spanish channels. I shouldn't have to lose one second as I go to those channels and see a show that might be interesting but then realize that it's in spanish.

Yeah, and I don't like fuchsia. Let's ban fuchsia too. OH, and pygmy monkeys, they scare me. let's ban those. How about dudes who wear fluorescent pink? Does "loudness" cover color?

Yeah, I HATE the adverblasting, which is one of the several reasons why I canceled my cable. The idea that it should be a law? :rolleyes: PLEASE!

I also agree with others who say that this is tame compared to other measures taken by the FCC, and that while I hate what is happening it really is low priority on the 'repeal' effort. But what it really demonstrates is the unadulterated arrogance of a government who thinks it can run every aspect of our lives "for our own good."

If the great unwashed masses had gotten so annoyed with adverblasting that they simply canceled cable like we did, then guess what, they wouldn't practice adverblasting anymore. :eek:

Amazing huh? :mad: