Senate Wants To Lower Volume On Loud TV Commercials

Tired of being blown out of your chair every time a commercial interrupts your favorite TV show? So is Congress.

The Senate has unanimously approved the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation - or CALM -- Act of 2009 (S. 2847) The measure, sponsored by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), would require the volume of television advertisements to be no louder than the volume of the program during which they appear.

"Every day millions of Americans are barraged with abrasively loud television commercials," said Whitehouse. "With the digital transition complete and new broadcast technology available, we can finally take this long-overdue action to dial down to normal the loudness of these ads."

Long history of complaints

The FCC has received consumer complaints about commercials being louder than TV shows since the 1960s. In the 25 quarterly reports on consumer complaints released by the FCC since 2002, 21 have listed as a top complaint the loudness of television commercials.

Consumers Union, the nonprofit organization that publishes Consumer Reports, has stated in testimony before the House of Representatives, "the CALM Act provides an elegant and common sense solution to finally ending a forty-five year consumer complaint in the United States."

"The last thing television watchers want is an advertisement shouting at them every time a TV program takes a commercial break," said Schumer. "This legislation will go a long way in protecting TV viewers from disruptive and unnecessarily loud commercials."

Companion legislation in the House introduced by Representative Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) has been approved by voice vote. Before President Barack Obama can sign the legislation, differences in the House and senate versions will have to be resolved in a conference committee - likely after Congress returns after the November elections.