Commercial Loudness? Notice much difference?

[Greg Peterson]

The CALM act took effect last month, and while generally the commercials have not been as loud as they used to be I find myself still reaching for the remote to either turn down or mute the commercials.

I had to go to a pub last weekend to watch the Packers and the commercials were easily twice as loud as the program. During the game I could converse or otherwise exchange comments. During commercial breaks I did not even bother trying to talk or listen to anyone.

Anyone notice this too?

I've finally decided to just start keeping a log as the quite commercials seem to be the exception. The FCC's reporting process for a single offending commercial is clumsy at best, but to report a large number of commercials is impractical.

[Lee Schierer]

As I understand the regulation the commercials can be no louder than the loudest level of the main program. Therefore, they can make the entire commercial as loud as the peak noise heard during a program. I don't think we really gained anything. The best cure is to record the programs and zoom through the commercials with a DVR or a VCR if you are still old school.

I've also noted that instead of four commercial breaks per hour that we now get at least 6 commercial breaks per hour with more commercials in each break than we used to get.

[Steve Wurster]

Commercials have to played at the same average volume of the program, not its loudest peak.

[Jim Rimmer]

I may be totally wrong but to me it seems to be simple math. A 30 second commercial at 70 dB is a total of 2100.
Put in 2 seconds of silence and run at 75 dB for 28 seconds = 2100 dB or an average of 70 dB for the ad.

[David G Baker]

I can't comment on the volume of commercials because I live with a remote in my hand and mute over 90% of them. At one time I dubbed commercials for airing on TV. I watched the vu meter and most of them were legal but the audio was compressed and sounded around 5 times louder than the program. Depending on my mood I would pot down the audio on the compressed audio so it was very near the same volume as the program.

[glenn bradley]

Why not just pay to have your TV piped in. That way there wouldn't be any commercials to bother you . . . Oh wait, that's right; cable TV started airing commercials even though you already pay for the TV service. That's when I stopped getting TV. Must be 20 years now.

[David Helm]

When watching tv (seldom), but did watch the Seahawks beat Washington, I always mute the commercials. TV commercials are completely lost on me. I don't generally buy the stuff they advertise. If they have to advertise to sell their stuff, I don't want it!

[Steve Wurster]

It's up to the broadcaster to adjust the volume of the commercial to fall within the volume of the program. The creator of the commercial cannot do this since they will have little to no detail about the program ahead of time. The FCC requirement is based on the following ATSC recommendation if you really want to know the details: http://www.atsc.org/cms/standards/a_85-2011a.pdf

[Greg Peterson]

All I know is that I still have to mute commercials because they are louder than the program or event I am watching. Not all the time, but often enough. And football games seem to be the worst.

[Steve Wurster]

You can report that to the FCC.

[Phil Thien]

You can report that to the FCC.

It might take a few reports to the FCC to get broadcasters to more closely observe the new rules.

I have to deal with the FCC on line porting issues, and some other phone issues. They don't mess around. I wouldn't doubt they have a procedure in place to submit complaints to broadcasters and get a response.

[Steve Wurster]

How to file a complaint is noted here: http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/loud-commercials

[mike holden]

What I have noticed is that tv shows are extending the lower range of the volume during conversations, forcing you to turn up the volume so that the commercials wind up blaring in your ears. This range extension is especially noticeable in a show like "Elementary" which is where I first noticed it.
Mike

[Steve Wurster]

But then wouldn't that lower the average volume of the program, which means the commercial loudness would have to be lower as a result? If you think the commercial is too loud you can report it to the FCC.

[Ed Griner]

I watch in Closed-caption and have for years. Just think,TV for your eyes and brain,no noise. Your ears will say thank you!

[Jason Roehl]

I may be totally wrong but to me it seems to be simple math. A 30 second commercial at 70 dB is a total of 2100.
Put in 2 seconds of silence and run at 75 dB for 28 seconds = 2100 dB or an average of 70 dB for the ad.


It's not simple math. Decibels are a logarithmic scale, so 80 dB is 10 times more sound pressure than 70 dB. 73 dB is roughly twice as loud as 70 dB.

I have noticed since the new rule that one local commercial in particular is much improved. The new rule states that the commercial must be played at the same average volume level as the program it interrupts. I believe the previous rule was that the peak volume of the commercial could not exceed the peak volume of the program. At any rate, if a commercial starts out louder, you may perceive it to be louder than the program, but you're going to need a dB meter and a computer to determine whether the averages are the same. Your ears and brain aren't that good.

[Mike Cruz]

Sorry, admittedly, I haven't read through this entire thread, so if this is repetative, please forgive me.

What I've noticed is that commercials are still louder. However, I run my sound through a receiver. So, what I've figured (and I could be all wrong about this), is that, say I've got my sound set up for surround sound. The station puts out, I don't know, 100 watts of power for sound. This could be all wrong, but got with it for a sec... With my 5 speakers, that is 20 watts per channel. But when the commercial comes on, it isn't in surround sound. It is only on the main center speaker... All 100 watts go through THAT speaker...which makes it a lot louder. Granted, if I just used my TV speakers, it would all be the same. But since I run through my receiver, they find the loop hole by not splitting the sound up between all the speakers. That's my theory, at least...

[Steve Wurster]

You might have gotten something like that even before, since a lot times the commercials are not in Dolby or equivalent (if ever). I know at my in-laws there are 2 speakers over the couch that tend to be the main ones used for commercials. The sound will seem louder because there is nothing else really being transmitted. This was true before the FCC change.

[Mike Cruz]

Yeah, Steve. You are correct. I had that issue before hand. But I suppose my point is that the makers of commercials do whatever they can to get your attention. And those that may have spread the sound around, are likely not doing it anymore since they can find the loophole in the regulation by having only one speaker get the sound... Tricksy they are.

[Steve Wurster]

I wouldn't think commercials would take much advantage of surround sound. I didn't look at the FCC spec enough to determine if output channel stuff is included.

[Mike Cruz]

Honestly, Steve, I neither looked hard enough into it to know, nor do I think that commercial makers WANT to take advantage of surround sound...unless what they are selling would benefit from it. Many people walk away from the TV when commercials come on. So, a louder commercial can be heard futher away. One speaker, louder... Again, I have to admit, this is my guess about things. No research, no reading material, no nuttin'...

[Greg Peterson]

I have tried the FCC's reporting form. You have to fill out a separate form for each instance and requires several minutes to fill out. I've taken to keeping a log in Excel as the virtually every commercial blasts well above what one would consider the programs volume level.

That said, I think I have discovered the loophole. While watching a football game, as the broadcast is going to commercial, they raise the volume considerably on the bumper music, and the same is true fro when they come back from commercial. Once they return to the game and play-by-play guys the volume drops.

So technically, commercials are not louder than the loudest part of the program they are sponsoring. The program spikes the volume just so the commercials can be obviously louder.

I know, I know. I sound like a grumpy old man yelling at the kids to get off my lawn.