Obama Signs CALM Act on Volume of TV Commercials

President Obama signed into law the "CALM Act," which requires the FCC to prescribe a regulation limiting the volume of audio on commercials transmitted by TV broadcast stations.

/ CBS/iStockphoto

TV viewers, rejoice: You'll no longer get blown out of your seat by the difference in volume between the television program you're watching and the commercials that air during it.

On Wednesday President Obama signed into law the "Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation" or "CALM Act." A press release from the White House states the law "requires the Federal Communications Commission to prescribe a regulation limiting the volume of audio on commercials transmitted by television broadcast stations, cable operators, and other multichannel video programming distributors."

The House passed the bill by a voice vote on Dec. 2. It was passed the Senate unanimously in September. The FCC will start enforcing the new rules within a year.

Consumers have complained to the FCC about loud commercials for decades, and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) told the Wall Street Journal in December that the CALM Act is the most popular piece of legislation she's sponsored in her 18 years in Congress. "If I'd saved 50 million children from some malady, people would not have the interest that they have in this," she said.

For now, the FCC has a webpage on the subject, which advises consumers, "Manually controlling volume levels with the remote control remains the simplest approach to reducing excessive volume levels."

[tfarney]

loud commercials are IGNORED.
They allow one to leave the room and when they fade, the clue to return to the show.
We should keeo a tally on which commercials are loud and boycot the product.
Most frustrating is when the sation is advertizing its own shows, news for example, during their own news, and the sound is so much louder.
I have been complaining since about 1981, when I first hooked up my audio equipment to the TV and saw the meters jump. I called the station, they denied any responsibility.

[jgg000101]

at the same time obama also signed a bill to make hybrid engines louder. Of course they can't pass a budget on time, and they wait until the last minute to rush everything through so no one has time to read anything, but it's nice to know that now I don't have to reach for the remote and that the chevy volt will go varooomm.

[davidadein]

Wow, instead of creating jobs we're worrying about this... 9 times out of 10 the reasons the commercials are louder than the commercials is becuase the commercials are encoded at the Local Station whereas the programs are encoded at the Network. So if someone doesn't have levels in sync on the local level with the sync at the national level that's when there is an issue.

The other place I notice this is when Cable Providers insert local ads into the national feeds. But at the end of the day who cares. It's a little annoying granted, but is this really worth the time of the U.S. Government? Is it worth the tax dollars spent to pass it?

I've got a better Idea Republican's and Democrates, find a way to get our Jobs back, Get people back to work, and then worry about the volume levels on the stupid television. AHHHHHHH!!!!

[ouchitatom]

i hope the economy gets so frickin bad no one cares how loud the commercials are because the makers of the products are from overseas and we can no longer afford to buy them. When this country gets knocked to its knees and people get hungry I mean REAL hungry soup kitchen dog food eating hungry . Then maybe the politicians will get thier heads out of the a%%%%es of the over seas manufacturers and move the factories back to the US. Until then mute. and boycott. Do you really think the popular vote counts? huh!

[1ManNamedDan]

WHA? HUH? WHAAAAT?

No Flippin way! You mean the Gvt ruled on the side of the common consumer instead of BIG BUSINESS?!?!
OH, I get it... because it actually bugged the Rich ... oh and also happend to anoy the poor as well, bet eh they can just pay more taxes later for the priveledge...

[endurorob_5]

What does this have to do with rich or poor? This is about the ******% government intervening where they do not belong. If the commercials are too oud turn down the volume or complain to the t.v. station or cable provider. It is just another over reach by the federal government.

[dicemandan]

Just another overreach by the federal government? Well, if people would use some common sense about issues that have carried on for decades, especially concerning the problem with extremely loud advertisers, then the government would not have to step in and force solutions to continuing problems! The broadcasting stations did not want to listen to their viewers decade after decade, and with decades of complaints besieging the FCC, it was time for congress to step up and do something about that ever annoying issue! Also, we consumers can do our talking (complaining) with our wallets! When advertisers come on tv and yell at me, do they really think they're going to get my business? They sure do get my attention, but not the right kind of attention: I will not do business with you if you insist on invading my ears with your unwarranted yelling! Let your wallet do the talking for you; let the businesses know why you will not do business with them!

[endurorob_5]

I guess it is so difficult for some people to push the little volume button on the remote that they had to get government invovled. This is just absurd.

[robintoledo]

Now we need to get the channels to stop those pop-ups at the bottom of the screen during regular programming to promote futue programs.

[MegaProcrastination]

It's pathetic to me that it takes a law to get networks to do something about this. I'm fifty years old and I don't ever remember commercials NOT doing this. I was watching a show on CBS's main site a couple of nights ago and the commercials there were way louder than the show. What I don't understand, especially since the invention of remote controls with mute buttons, is why the networks keep doing it. As soon as I know a commercial is coming I mute it and don't pay it any mind. I pay a lot more attention to commercials on sites like Hulu, where the commercials run at the same volume as the show.

[guest173]

the same thing happens on the internet too, the ads are louder than the video you are watching. I am surprised they even bothered with this issue, I hope these lawmakers will do more serious things although this small annoyance is nice to take care of, there's more important things to take care of also

[bearjoint]

I am always amazed how people can complain about just about any legislation. Personally, I'm glad that I won't be blown out of my seat every time a commercial comes on. A volume consistent with the programing only makes sense. Darn commercials keep waking me up!