Congress goes after those annoying TV ads that are WAY LOUDER THAN THE PROGRAMS [Updated]

You know how sometimes those folks on TV -- even on our favorite Sunday political talk shows -- are conversing so softly that you turn up the volume a little? And then forget about it?

Until the commercial comes on and it's WHOA! SO MUCH LOUDER THAN THE SHOWS?

So you scramble for the remote, fiddle with the volume button and curse the product being advertised, ranting about how these stupid things should be illegal.

Even though, come to think of it, there's a serious question about inviting the feds in to control television volume in individual homes.

Apparently, this loud volume has also struck the ears of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. He's a Democrat, of course. From Rhode Island.

He's now introduced legislation called the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act of 2009 -- the unnecessary "M" word obviously thrown in to construct the cutesy acronym, CALM. Feels better already, right?

[Corrected, Jan. 3, 2010, 3:50 p.m.: A previous version of this post incorrectly named the bill as the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Migration Act of 2009.]

The bill proposes that the Federal Communications Commission regulate commercials, mandating that the sales pitches must remain at the same decibel level as the show that precedes them. Rep. Anna Eshoo, of Menlo Park, another Democrat, has introduced companion legislation in the House.

"In my 17 years in the House of Representatives," she tells The Times, "I've never carried a bill which has been received with so much enthusiasm. Only the do-not-call list has even come close."

But how will we know which candidates to vote for? Besides reading politics blogs, naturally? We often pick whomever talks the loudest in their campaign commercials. Come to think of it again, that's just like the used-car ads.

-- Mark Milian

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Photo: Mark Milian / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[alex]

finnally, those loud ads are so annoying

[Storm4uar]

Yeah finally. I hate those commercial. The most those commercials due is making me remember the product so I can make sure not to purchase their product.

[John kroemer]

Why not invent a device you can sell to hook up to your TV?

[fanta]

Any statistics to back up the claim that the loudest political commercials result in election day victory? That's a new one on me.

I blame cable TV for the volume discrepancy. Before cable, when networks ruled the airwaves, ads for national broadcast could and would be rejected if the sound was mixed too hot. I remember; I was in the business. Local media wouldn't be so stringent about them, but networks had a standard for how much louder commercials could be than the programming. Now, apparently, nobody self-regulates, which invites government regulation...the same old story no matter what industry you're in.

[Dan Forrer]

The commercials aren't technically louder than the TV shows but they sound louder because of something called "compression" that is added to commercials by either the producer of the spot, the broadcaster or both. Radio stations and music producers also utilize compression to make their product stand out. What compression does is boost up the level of the "quieter" parts of a commercial to the same level as the "loud" parts, so the entire spot is "loud" without any of the "quieter" breaks. The maximum level of the spot is no different than the maximum level of the program because if you go over the ) VU limit the sound will become distorted. Regulating TV stations isn't going to solve the problem because they are only partially responsible.

[Terry]

No one is "inviting the feds in to control television volume in individual homes" unless there's more to this bill than you say. It just says commercials can't be louder than programs. Hardly an intrusion into civil liberties.

[jad]

I'm really glad Congress has found the time to address these burning issues, what with so many athletes taking performance enhancing drugs.

[Paul]

One minor mistake in the article -- the bill isn't called the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Migration Act of 2009; it's the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act of 2009. A person reading this article might think that we were going to send loud commercials to another country.

[moi]

Thanks for the info, Paul! "Mitigation" makes sense. I was wondering what the word "migration" had to do with anything...

[JB]

It's about time! I thought it was regulated through the FCC.
But they obviously aren't doing their job. The commercials ARE way louder and should be illegal. I can't believe it's been going on legally. No wonder we have no faith in government these days! Seems like they are consistanly NOT doing their job!

[JB]

@ Dan Forrers post.
I know all about compression as I am a musician and use a compessor all the time. They want you to believe it's at the same level as the program, but clearly it is not!
It's minipulation at it's best. My guess is they actually lower the program volume so the commercials can be so loud you are forced to notice. To be honest, I mute ALL commercials now! So it's defeating the purpose! That's what they get for being sleazy and thinking it would generate more sales.

[Patricia J]

Maybe someone should invent an automatic volume control to mute commercials, Any takers? You could be rich! It's a shame we miss the shows we love because we hate the LOUD commercials,, and ., sorry,I don't buy the technical bs, Networks have the ability to turn the volume down.

[Honeymoon in Tehran]

can anyone get that loudmouth Billy Mayes to shut that hole under his nose ?

[Karen Kempf]

I too feel that the TV comercials are excessively loud and hope that someone either the networks,congress, or heaven help the comercial makers themselves lower the volume.

[nesto]

Great!!! This is another perfect excuse for the Naked King and his czars to stick its nose in the life of the American People. After all, commercials are tools of those evil, greedy, capitalist-money-making American-enterprises. Congress will make up any excuses to create a bill to control TV volumes, but it will be loaded with pork and earmarks. Or it might as well have a "piggy-back-ride law" to forces us to renounce to our constitutional rights. Brilliant!!!

[nesto]

My previouos comment is being screened. Since I called Obama a "Naked King and all of his Czars" it might not pass the screener!

[Speedi]

This is clearly about control. These commercials have gone beyond aggravation to me. They're so loud that it's shocking (not to mention they're getting more and more stupid. I wouldn't be surprised to find out if most of the people that create these commercials are on drugs.). It's crazy and unfair. I have to turn the programs way up in order to hear them, but the commercials are twice as loud. I hope that this congressman Sheldon Whitehouse, is successful in regulating this.

[Jennifer YOung]

I am ready to get rid of my tv really. I am so sick of the loud commercials I think it has something to do with my headaches. I can't possible sit on the remote to hit the mute button constantly....GET RID OF THE LOUDER THAN TV SHOWS COMMERCIALS...CONGRESS IS ALLOWING THIS FORM OF ILLEGAL STUFF IT DOWN YOUR MOUTH ADVERTISING TO AID AND ABIDE THE CORPORATE MONSTER! WE HAD HOPE AND NOTHING HAS HAPPENED!