HIGH-DEF DISC NEWS TAGGED "CALM ACT"

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CALM Act Adopted by FCC - Commercials are Getting Quieter

On the down side, it's not going to take effect until next December.

It seems pretty safe to say that nobody likes to have their shows, movies and games interrupted by commercials. As bad as the unwanted break is though, it gets even worse when those commercials are louder than the show you're watching.

Thankfully, something has finally been done about it. Cable companies and advertisers didn't do it themselves of course, there had to be a bill sent through congress to make it all happen. The CALM act has finally been passed and enacted by the FCC, forcing broadcasters to keep advertisements at the same maximum volume level as the show you're watching.

On the down side, this won't go into effect for a full year. Until December of 2012 you'll be stuck dealing with the same jarringly loud commercials we have now - assuming that you don't record your favorite shows and skip through the commercials or just download them and skip it all together.

Source: Engadget

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CALM Act Approved – Commercials Are Getting Quieter

It's decades late, but we're finally getting some regulation on ridiculous commercial volumes.

You've probably been complaining about this as long as you've been watching television. Commercials are freakishly loud. They're louder than the show most of the time, and can be a pain to deal with, especially when watching at low volumes.

Congress has finally decided to do something about it by approving the CALM act, which would require that television commercials meet certain loudness requirements.

"Consumers have been asking for a solution to this problem for decades, and today they finally have it," says Califronia representative Anna Eshoo.

Of course, with advances like Dolby Volume which was created to deal with this and the move of consumers from traditional TV to streaming and download services, this bill seems to be too little too late.

The bill is now on the way to President Obama for final approval.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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