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 limit the volume of commercials and keep them at the level of the programs they interrupt.
The House has passed similar legislation. Before it can become law, minor differences between the two versions have to be worked out when Congress returns to Washington after the Nov. 2 election.
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.
Correcting sound levels is more complicated than using the remote control. The television shows and ads come from a variety of sources, from local businesses to syndicators.
Managing the transition between programs and ads without spoiling the artistic intent of the producers poses technical challenges and may require TV broadcasters to purchase new equipment. To address the issue, an industry organization recently produced guidelines on how to process, measure and transmit audio in a uniform way.
The legislation, sponsored by Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., requires the FCC to adopt those recommendations as regulations within a year and begin enforcing them a year later. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., is the driving force behind the legislation in the House.
Good. It really is annoying, especially if you have little ones who are sleeping, or you are trying to watch TV late and you don't want your wife coming out of the bedroom screaming at you for still being awake. I like this legislation.
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Seems odd, especially since TV stations use audio limiters to prevent overmodulation. I recall installing an Optimod in one station, and it held the audio peaks to really tight levels. NO WAY you could overmodulate with that thing. It also helped with the normal programming, keeping audio levels the same.
In the world of digital TV, you can't exactly 'overmodulate'. If you exceed the 0 dB mark, the audio just STOPS. It's like when the picture stops and pixilates, only with audio. You can't possibly overmodulate a DTV signal. This legislation might be too little too late.
Good. It really is annoying, especially if you have little ones who are sleeping, or you are trying to watch TV late and you don't want your wife coming out of the bedroom screaming at you for still being awake. I like this legislation.
x2 except I don't have a wife, or kids, or watch TV late. But other than that I agree with you.
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I can't believe it took them this long to realize that something needed to be done. You have to turn you TV up to the limit to hear any dialog on your show, then your eardrums are immediately ruptured during commercial breaks.
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