Tuesday, December 13, 2011

An End to Loud Television Advertising

With recent legislature passed by the Federal Communication Commission, television providers will be required that loudness of commercials does not exceed the volume of program that they are apart of. According to the FCC, there have been around 6,000 complaints received since 2008 in regards to the volume of television advertisements. These were passed along to television providers who did not deem it a big enough issue to address.

While part of me is happy to hear that I will no longer be subjected to deafening commercials in the middle of a program, the other part of me is concerned as to how only 6,000 complaints over a less than 4 year span warrant our legislature being tied up with issues like these. Why is advertising a point of interest for our Government? Apparently the issue was not big enough that advertisers and television provider thought it necessary to change but they are now forced to.

CNN Link

4 comments:

  1. It does seem a little ridiculous that, especially during football games, the ads seem to be nearly 10x louder than the game. I hope that they revise policy to ensure that my eardrums are protected during football season.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's funny, because I remember hearing about this a while ago. I know so many people who mute the television during commercials. Commercials I can drown out, but even the best jedi-mind tricks are tested when the program is suddenly screaming at you. Afterwards, you can't even remember what the commercial was about because you were so taken by how inconsiderate the volume was. Were they hoping that between your scowl you'd see the logo and absorb it subconsciously? Boo hiss.

    -Danielle

    ReplyDelete
  3. I also thought this was resolved a long time ago, but it must be more complicated than we think for stations to simply turn the volume down. If it's a good commercial, the volume doesn't need to be louder than the main program.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have been one of these complaints. It's absolutely annoying. I feel at times I can hardly hear the television, but when the commercials are on, I'm deaf. I'm glad to see that they are finally coming to their sense, since my sense of hearing is gone!

    ReplyDelete