Mute...

I don't want to watch something with the remote in my hand ready to combat the commercial break at a moment's notice. Loud ads are one of the reasons I cancelled cable years ago.

(The others are snipes, channel bugs, and far too many commercial breaks.)

Read a book. No commercials!

Netflix, my solution to this pesky problem.

Some people can't afford DVR and/or can't afford/don't want Netflix. It's too bad commercials have taken advantage of a lack of regulation; I'm glad there is some now so people don't have to deal with this, mute button or not (some people prefer not to, or can't without major disruption, switch to mute). I like it that there's also a number to call for "rogue ads" that appear to be disregarding this law.

Now what is going to wake me up when I fall asleep on the couch? :-(

Surprising that advertisers haven't realized this by now? If your an advertiser, wouldn't you actually want to try to come in under the viewers radar and not force them to kill the sound on your commercial?

"However, it took an act of Congress, the "Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act," or CALM Act, to prod the FCC into the necessary action. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate....."
WHAT? Congress was in session? When did this happen........

"However, it took an act of Congress, the "Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act," or CALM Act, to prod the FCC into the necessary action. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate....."

This is the same senators who belong to the "Senators Can't Understand Mediation of Debt Of Government & Spending" . Better known as SCUM DOGS.....

"...Shouting TV ads are soon to become a thing of the past as a new law goes into effect Thursday at midnight..."

Right. Does anyone seriously think this new law, the CALM Act ( which took more than 2-years to implement ) will make a particle bit of actual difference? Come on, we didn't just fall off the turnip truck.

I have lived long enough to have learned that life in the United States, as regards our Federal government agencies, is just "same ol', same ol'." Congress passes Laws/Acts/Regulations ... and the FCC ignores them.

I have had all of my telephone numbers listed on the FCC's "Do Not Call Registry" for the past 5+ years, and I still receive no fewer than 20-25 "unlawful" telemarketer solicitation and robo-calls per week. For more than 4-years I filed complaints. I have never once received a response from the FCC, and if anything the number of "unlawful" telephone calls increase each year. So what was the freakin' point of the law, anyway?

No amount of complaints to the FCC about the volume of television commercials is going to result in any substantive action. The FCC is the most impotent Federal agency in the US.

Hey, "kraussk". The broadcast airwaves belong to the people. So it's up to the representatives of the people, called "government", to regulate it to reflect the public's wishes. Very slowly now.... Do... you... get... it?

Regulating commercial volume level will be a lot easier that enforcing the
"Do Not Call List". There are millions of advertisers who can illegally robo-call your phone, and it isn't easy to track them down. However, the number of broadcast and cable channels is much lower, and the channel operator, not the advertiser, has final control of the commercial volume level, and final responsibility when contacted by the FCC for violations.

I hate commercials, really hate them; so much so that I watch everything on my laptop and try to avoid sites with them. If they're unavoidable I mute. You see, I have this uncommon ability to seek out the things I want to buy. The attitude of advertisers that for some reason you owe them minutes of your life because you want to watch a program is infuriating. The truth is I'd even be tolerant of lower production values if that meant no commercials. The cable scam is the worst; remember how you used to pay for cable partially so you didn't have to be barraged with advertisements?

Netflix. No commercials.

@kraussk wrote:

"Here goes the overintrusive, ever-present, overregulating jack@$$e$ in our government again, sticking their noses into every corner of our lives, because THEY CAN! What next? Are they going to TELL us we can't watch loud portions of shows because it might damage our hearing and Bozobama's nanny state Bozobamacare would have to pay for the hearing aid? That's the kind of crap to expect next, people, if we don't stand up and say, "Enough!", especially withthis socialist fool people just put back in office!"

Wow, these discussion threads really do seem to draw-out some serious whackadoodles.

You don't have to live this way. Consider turning off the Right-wing talking heads for a few hours each day, and seeking some professional help to find some balance and get your anger in-check before you harm yourself, or others.

That boogeyman you have persuaded yourself is the root of all evil, ...is just a figment of your own imagination.

yes, kraussk is way off his rocker! Someone needs to tell him that our president has probably never been asked for input into this matter, ever.

I just don't understand why people like him think that it is a bad thing when good things happen. What a fool!

What? He WANTS to be able to listen to commercials at ear splitting levels? What a fool! Typical right winger who will cut off his nose to spite his face. These people are acting against their own best interest. Amazing! Maybe he also prefers to eat tainted meat and food laced with deadly chemicals and wash it down with dirty water while breathing air from the furnace of some factory. He is not going to let any socialist commie prevent him from exercising HIS rights! Oh no, he is smarter than that.

What a fool!

Live sporting events are one example of something few people DVR so it's a nice thing. As the kids are saying, it is a "first world problem" thing though.

I find the commercial volumes less annoying than the program volumes where the music and special fx are 5 times louder than the dialogue. For instance, the characters are talking and then there is an explosion or gunfire that actually sounds like it happened in your living room! Or there is a musical interlude where the music sounds as if it is coming from your teenage daughters stereo at full blast. A lot of shows nowadays I have to sit with remote in hand to crank up the volume for dialogue, then have cat-like reflexes to turn it down the second there's a gunfight or a musical number.

WHAT LAW IS GONNA FIX THAT??? If you ask me, they should apply this commercial law to the programming as well!!!

Actually the advertisers woke up one day and discovered we consumers were using all means available to cut commercials due to high volume and in their little pea brains decided it was not cost effective to pay $100,000 for a spot that 90% would tune out and the remaining 10% were too poor to purchase their product. So they started push back and as always money talks.

The first attempt at this control I believe was the very old CBS audimax/volumax combination limiter back in the 60's.

Thank You!!! I HATE loud commercials-I ALWAYS mute (but sometimes not fast enough)

Thank the Gods for the DVR. We DVR everything we watch (all 6-7 shows), and FF past commercials. Haven't seen one in years. Plus the DVR was free when we signed up with our current non-cable, non-satellite provider. If we should watch something "live", we mute the commercials and the wife and I talk, ignoring what is on the TV screen. We also mute during sports events, but that is because every single play-by-play and commentator in sports are too damn stupid and boring to listen too. We have eyes and can tell when a baseball has been popped up, or a football fumbled, thanks.

This seems like one of those things that adults should be able to handle without an act of congress. We're not building the railroad here. It should have simply been a matter of programers working with advertisers to improve the overall TV watching experience.

A buddy of mine and I came up with an idea we wanted to call the 'Commercial Eliminator' back in the 70s that would cut the audio for 30 seconds whenever the volume sustained above a certain threshhold. We didn't have the technical expertise to create it. We just came up with the ideas. I also thought of a buy/trade/sell site similar to eBay back then. The technology simply didn't exist. Too bad there wasn't a place where I could get this stuff to the right people. I could be fantastically rich.

Why not do this? Why not do that. I do this. I do that. Mute! Mute! Mute!

I say why should we have to? Those companies let their greed overcome common decency and sense. I promised myself I wouldn't do business with any company that blasted their commercial at me if I could help it. I find it particularly irritating not to mention downright rude. Nothing like being heart attacked out of a pleasant reverie.....

Kraussk, judging by your post, you are definitely a conservative who champions smaller government. Hey man, I'm 100% on board with you. But honestly, on this issue, I'd support the government eliminating commercials entirely....especially those prescription and supplimental drug commercials. When I set the volume on my TV, it's at a comfortable listening level to my ears. Why should I or anyone else be forced to lower the volume of their set during irritating commercials? In my humble opinion...it's about time something was done!

Kryss ...

Some people can't afford DVR and/or can't afford/don't want Netflix

Great post. I DVR some things but still, it's kind of fun to watch a program with the family in live time and do the run to the kitchen/potty breaks at commercials and race back to see if you still have your spot on the sofa! ;-)

I'm thrilled with this and can't wait to see it in action!

For me this is great for live sporting events. That is something I will never record and then watch later. And the volume of these commercials is annoying. Also, now I know why they are so loud.

I am glad they finally got around to implementing this. The loud ads are extremely annoying when you are watching programs in real time rather than ones that are DVRed. I can not stand getting my ears blasted and having to reach for the remote every time the program goes to a commercial break. I am surprised that the advertisers themselves did not stop this practice since it was resulting in many people muting their commercials. After all, if people are muting the commercial you are not getting your message across. The practice always seemed a little counterproductive for the advertisers.

"Rogue ad's"...thats a new one :-)...and reporting them. I'll bet the Rogue Ad committee will be over run with calls.

If I were posting an ad, I would turn DOWN the volume. I'll bet many would say "what's he saying??? Turn up the volume". Reverse psychology.

Also the cunning advertising community have gotten together in the past while to coordinate ads with ALL stations. You no longer can switch channels when an ad comes on to another which isn't running an ad.

I tape most of my favorite shows and simply fast forward. There is a new system coupled with Direct TV which automatically zaps commercials. Companies are fighting this fiercly. But we must live with ad's otherwise...no programs.

zapain: I think those loud noises in shows are designed so that they fall in front of and behind loud commercials: then the over-loud commercials wouldn't be "louder" than the actual show. This is an example of industry finding a loophole to skirt a law. Again, the law could be changed to include noises within shows, with perhaps the exception of movies. Or, as with old radio, stereo, or later CD players, a volume level equalizer could be installed in sound systems so that the machine automatically does it for you. I find that noise levels everywhere are entirely too much. I want to be able to wait another couple of decades before I become reliant on hearing aides.

Now they've just switched to ANNOYING sounds. I'm seeing ads starting with bongs and buzzing. I guess when your product is crap, you'll try anything.

Blackbird wrote:

"...If I were posting an ad, I would turn DOWN the volume. I'll bet many would say "what's he saying??? Turn up the volume". Reverse psychology."

Blackbird, I think you're on to something there. I have a first cousin who lives in the Seattle area. She is 5-foot-nothin' and very petite, and her husband and two teenage sons tower above her.

Yet she has COMPLETE control of that household, and never, ever raises her voice. To the contrary, she speaks to them in a controlled and very soft voice and when she speaks everyone else gets very quiet and focused on her in order to hear her. And I have noticed that she never has to ask either of her sons twice, to do something.

Cheers!

PS. Her college major was ... psychology. HA! ;-)

I haven't watched commercials since Commercial Advance was invented. I don't even FF through the commercials, they just magically "disappear" when recording on a DVR.

I cut cable because I was tired of the ads screaming at me, and now do most of my tv watching online and plugged into the tv. This was great for quite a while, but now there are more ads and they are louder. One microsoft ad blew the speakers on my laptop. I emailed microsoft, the station, and the specific program, but, of course, no one responded.

I don't want regulations on the Internet, I just wish advertisers and the stations would show more respect for viewers. They don't care about the baby asleep in the next room, or the neighbor in the next apartment, or the viewer who is trying to relax. I've tried AdBlock, but it doesn't work for some of the stations I watch. Advertisers seem to think that they have to badger you to buy their product. For me, at least, the more badger, the more I remember the product, and I DON't buy it. I rarely buy a product because of the advertising, so everytime I run for the volume control, they have lost a potential customer.

Blackbird, I like your reverse psychology strategy.

tv is such a hassle i either don['t watch it or watch pbs. but even pbs is getting to gung-ho on the commercials.

but pbs has more pledge breaks than i can deal with,too.

so maybe just watch foreign stations! much fewer commercials. and it keeps my 2nd and 3rd language skills up.

tv is a huge waste of time and investment. why we ever made better tv---- just to be annoyed 'better'? or be annoyed with a better picture??? doesn't make much sense to me.

Then why would you read this article?

I don't watch TV.

ZenPaladin - and we should care because...???

both of you are idiots.

Now you just have to keep the baby from cryin...

I don't think Jesus works for the FCC.

"I like to think of Jesus with big angel wings and he's singing lead vocals for Lynyrd Skynyrd, and I'm in the front row hammered drunk."

Yeah, whatever happened to commercial-free TV programming? We pay more than enough dough every month for the digital signals to be piped into our homes.

I wasn't old enough to remember, but my parents recall when cable TV first came out in the 70's and they loved the fact that it had NO commercials.

But I do remember some years ago when you could buy DVR's that skipped over commercials automatically, while it recorded. Very difficult to find a new DVR that can do that, now.

Third-party add-on devices as well as DISH Network offered DVR's that can do just that -- but the FOX Channel and Rupert Murdock threatened to sue them in court for coming out with that very convenient option for consumers. Marketers that pay the broadcasting industry their "bread-and-butter," (revenue from businesses paying the industry to promote their products in time-slots becomes the broadcasting industry's lifeblood for profits) -- complained that it was "anti-capitalist," and harmful to their "bottom line," if less people were aware of their products in their aired ads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_skipping

rradiko,

You are correct - when cable first came out there were no commercials, period. At least for awhile. But you have to look beyond the commercialsn to understand why they were that way, even for a little while.

You need to ask yourself one question - why PAY for cable when you had FREE commercial TV? The only way cable ever came about was because the American people were lied to. They (cable operaters) knew damn well people wouldn't pay unless they thought it would be better then commerical TV. And that meant NO commercials. After a bit of time went by (to satisfy the viewing audience) guess what appeared? Right: COMNMERCIALS. And it's been that way ever since.

To pour salt into the wound - cable back then cost $15.00 a month!

rradiko - whatever happened to commercial-free TV programming?

It's alive and well, and it's called PBS.

It's alive and well, and it's called PBS.

mozzie - that is not true. I've tuned into PBS shows that were touted to be informative about one thing or another only to find that they were infomercials. No constructive information was given. Instead, people had to buy a book, DVD or whatever. These are as bad as infomercials that are broadcast on non PBS channels late at night. Actually, they are worst because viewers expect more from PBS.

scales - they are worst [sic] because viewers expect more from PBS.

If people expect more, they need to donate for its survival. Nothing in the world is free.

Yes, unfortunately PBS does have commercials now; started happening around the time NPR lost their funding. Did PBS lose funding as well?

Actually, even PBS has begun running actual commercials - for Subaru, and for banks, and insurance companies.

They call it something else, but it's still a commercial.

They show commercials because they can. Most people need their daily dose of the idiot box no matter what sort of crap is on.

Yeah, remember when the cable channels didn't even run advertisements for their own shows (I mean the movies they were going to run, not original programming like they do now).

They used to run a lot of animation and oddball videos to take up the slack until the next hour or half hour. In fact music videos got their start there. I remember watching a video of The Psychedelic Furs performing Sister Europe and thinking there was a market for those. A couple years later MTV was born. You know, back when they actually played music videos.

No bugs in the corners either.

I must admit that I subscribe to cable TV. Don't ask me why, because cable TV is one of the biggest rip-offs we have in this country. We are forced to pay big bucks to subscribe to packages of channels when the large majority of us only watch a few of the channels. Is it fair for me to pay for the Spanish channels that I have absolutely no interest watching? I wish the cable companies offer a la carte subscriptions. I'd gladly pay a higher per channel subscription rate if I could choose only those channels that I frequent.

You realize that if there weren't commercials then you would be paying a LOT more.

JKiff - even PBS has begun running actual commercials - for Subaru, and for banks, and insurance companies.

PBS isn't able to run its operations solely on the private donations they get, so they have to sell time to these companies. Donate if you don't want commercials. That's why they have those annoying beg-a-thons.

Even PBS has commercials; for their "sponsors." But at least they're between shows instead of during.

The volume of commercials is the least of my concerns. With the TV and sound system I have now the volume is leveled out automatically so there is no real difference in the volume of the program being viewed and commercials.

What is really irritating though is the commercials for network programming (not products or services) being run during the program being viewed using both text and animation, creating a big distraction. The logo in the lower right I can understand and live with. But when network commercials for the program being watched or upcoming shows, that appear taking up a significant space of the show I am trying to watch in the lower right I find intolerable. Especially with you get the same thing in a regular commercial break.

when the commercials get to much, which is often, i turn the idiot box off.

to record and then skip through the commercials is about the only way to do it. you certainly can't watch a program in real time.

even football is so over commercialed---it is difficult to watch. and then you miss the first part of the next play because of the commercial playing, that ticks me off.

there are a few. very few commercials that i do like and actually want to see or listen too. but they are very far, few and in between. as for the commercials that irratate me-----i refuse to buy those products. don't know anything ab out them but i make a mental note ''i hate that product and i will never buy it''. seems like anticommercials to me, but if that is the way they want to do their business, so be it.

YOU IRRATE ME---- I WILL NOT EVER BUY YOUR STUFF.

More like when you don't hear it!

Just watch. They'll switch from "loud" to "annoying" sounds. I've already hear buzzing and bong sounds. Whiny voices are just a matter of time. Any pathetic trick to be "remembered." Yea, I remember who's on my boycott list. ;)

Hey congress! Thanks for working to lower the volume of commercials and all but don't you have a little financial matter to tend to? Nice to see where the priorities are.

yeah, so glad the boys and girls in washington are dealing with the really important issues!!!

Agreed, if the visual noise doesn't 'quiet down' as well, this won't stop people from changing channels as quick as possible. But maybe the kids like that stuff, who knows?

I need to look away when there are flashing scenes in a commercial. Visual noise is a much to nice of a word for it.

Next on the agenda should be those ads for programming that cover significant parts of the screen - while another show is on. Then some have moving characters and sound that obscures the dialogue. TV Tropes describes it better:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CommercialPopUp

The BBC learned the hard way that Doctor Who fans do not appreciate them.

Even the tv stations themselves cant seem to avoid covering their own logos with their own OTHER logos. I remember when we had professionals actually watching what they broadcast. Even cspan is famous for putting their full-time banner over chart legends and subtitles.

the one commercial that makes me vomit is to see that old sourpuss, PETER FRANCIS GERACI, THE BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEY.

how long before that baffoon kicks the bucket???? can't be soon enough for me.

Not people. Corporations.

Corporations are people, my friend.

why any commercial has whiny kids in it or screaming/crying kids in it is totally beyond me.

i thought the point of advertising was to draw people in rather than repulse them.

And smoking doesn't really cause cancer, it's good for you!

It's about time on these dang commercials. Now we need to get the movie theater to do the same thing.They play their 20 minutes of ads before the movies at an ear splitting level. I can't even talk to my wife before the movie it's so blasting loud.

I know Steve! It ticks me off. I already overpaid for everything and then we get to sit through commercials? A lot greedy people out there.

we are all walking atm machines, with people wanting to fish the last nickle out of your pocket.

mean while irratating the j*ck out of you doing it.

even in cabs you are assaulted with ads and commercials and tv screens trying to get more money out of you. like you can't just enjoy the peace and quiet of a ride around town without commercials trying to get into your head.

Thanks! You had to mention that one.....

Now I've got to find some other music or I'll be singing, "8-7-7 CASH NOW!"

"Annoying" is the new "loud." We've got an ad around there that starts off sounding like a cellphone on vibrate.

I can't think of one produce I purchase that advertises on TV or the internet. Because a commercial is funny or cute doesn't make me want to buy the product - esp after the 400th time of seeing it. I would say, psychologically, my mind tells me that a product that has to advertise so often is, well, not a good product and is desperate for sales.

I do the same for popup ads. I figure if their product is so bad that they feel the need to get attention this way instead of actually describing what's better about their product, then its best avoided.

That's good to know, I have netflix and there's no commercials was thinking of looking into Hulu. That won't be happening now.

Unfortunately it's not about the quality of the commercial but rather about broadcast standards in relation to decibels. Since hulu isn't on cable, then it does not need to meet the same broadcast standards in regards to volume and color.

Between netflix, amazon and ota news, I manage to avoid most salesmen insulting my intelligence.

Over the years, I've become an Expert at TV Commercial Anticipation.

Soon, you'll find it becomes second nature and you'll rarely be fooled. So, any time i see one coming, one tap on the Mute key. Haven't heard a complete commercial in years.

there is a commercial and then the program comes back on to tell you they are taking another commercial break.

and the tv segments have gotten so short, some less than 5 minutes between breaks.

and people wonder why we have the attention span of a gnats!!

in europe you have commercials for 10 minutes or so and then the program plays in it's entirety or with one break. a much better system.

Two yrs ago.

Are you saying that a person that doesn't understand Engiish also doesn't understand LOUD English?

Who'd of guessed?

Crackle is the worst. They dont even time commercials for breaks in the action. When the clock says "commercial", they break away in mid sentence. And the same commercial over and over. They're free and still overpriced.

It's very, very hard to find violators of the "do not call" list. They "spoof" their numbers and use different phone numbers all the time. They're not even using real phone numbers, they're using Internet calling. It's like finding a grain of sand on the beach.

As a kid in the 1960's, I'd try to watch television late at night, when the family was asleep, and the Tom Peterson used car commercials would come on ever 10 minutes it seemed: "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! HAVE WE GOT A DEAL FOR YOU!" and he'd look like he was pounding on the other side of the television screen. And my dad would yell, "TURN THAT DOWN!" and I'd turn it down and the movie or show would resume and I couldn't hear it and have to turn it up, and then without warning, the Tom Peterson commercial would pop up again.

So my rewards of getting to stay up late and watch some old movies ended pretty quickly.

They were playing with statistics. The peak volume of the commercials was no louder than the peak volume of the show. However, the commercial was near the peak level throughout, while the show only reached that level during brief events like explosions.

To: Robert757A, #25.2

As I expect it to be. Not knowing the specifics of this new law/rule, I wonder if the "+-2 decibels" are based on the peak volume, the mid-range (average) volume, or low volume? It it's the peak volume such as explosions or gun-shots, then this new ruling will be worthless.

Congress is too easily influenced or controlled by those with money to do the right thing. Time will tell if our tax dollars used to investigate this problem and formulate a "solution" will be effective or worth it.

aren't you glad you spent all of that money on surround sound for the tv???? and bought those big flat screen tvs, just so you could have better commercials in you life??