Why are TV ads so loud?

Whether you’re fully engrossed in your favorite show and can’t wait to see what happens next, or you’re falling asleep on the couch to a rerun of your favorite reality series, there’s nothing on this planet quite as frustrating as an obnoxious series with loud commercials. These nightmarish assaults on our ears seem to be cranked up dozens of decibels to urge viewers to pay attention to any product or service being promoted that sounds like it should be illegal. And they are… sort of. Unfortunately, the whole thing is a bit complicated, and the result is a whole lot of loud commercials.

Sometimes commercials can be a lot of fun, like when Top managers decide to deal with a little salesmanship Or even when the company doesn’t clearly understand what they’re selling and makes things really weird (looking at you, Spot the 2024 Paramount+ Super Bowl), but it’s never fun to be broadcasting much louder than what you chose to put on your TV, no matter how great the commercial is. Despite efforts by the US government to limit the size of commercials compared to the shows that air alongside them, for many audiences, commercials continue to get louder and louder.

There are limits on how loud TV ads can be in the United States, with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) putting the rules in place in 2011 through the Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation Act, or CALM Act. The law established guidelines for commercial loudness after years of complaints from viewers tired of being exposed to commercials that were too loud, and things have improved a bit. Anyone who remembers network and cable TV business volumes before 2011 can certainly attest that the CALM Act helped.

Unfortunately, the FCC still has its limits. The biggest one is that it doesn’t cover broadcast channels, which is how many Americans get their entertainment these days (not via network or cable TV). Newer media like YouTube are also not covered, although the service has its own throttling software that sometimes works, as long as the video you’re watching isn’t particularly quiet. Audiences frustrated by commercials broadcast too loudly can file a complaint with the FCC, but unfortunately, internet and streaming services are allowed to do whatever they want.

If you watch TV through free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels like Prime Video’s FreeVee or even paid subscription services with ads, like the lower-tier Peacock and Hulu subscriptions, there are really no rules about how loud commercials can be. Express channels and these subscriptions It has replaced older media such as broadcast television, But they also have many of the same issues with less regulation. The loudness of commercials can vary from service to service, and even from channel to channel. It’s really just the Wild West in terms of scale.

In addition to commercials being intentionally loud in order to grab the audience’s attention, there are sometimes issues with the technological side of things. Audio mixing is a complex art that helps Make a show or movie not only look good, but also understandable (especially dialogue)The sound mix in commercials is often inappropriate. (This is especially the case with FAST channels, which often feature low-budget native advertising and very cheap digital advertising for related channels or products, and their extremely loud sound is accompanied by a little whine.) Although all of this is technically legal, It is still legal. Very annoying. So, what can you do?

Since regulating streaming media like streaming channels would open up a whole new can of worms, and we’re unlikely to see any changes from lawmakers on this front anytime soon, the best thing viewers at home can do is adjust the audio settings on their devices. While this isn’t the most satisfactory solution in the world, it’s the one we currently have, and most TV manufacturers and even some digital services have advanced audio settings. The best option of all is to limit all sounds to a certain loudness range (which streaming has done for some time), and some TVs even offer an “automatic volume level” option that aims to maintain the same volume levels across channels, streaming services, and even Various inputs (such as a Blu-ray player or gaming system).

However, there is one downside to the Auto Volume options, as they can be just as frustrating as something like the infamous option Motion smoothing technologyWhich can make fine cinema look like a cheap TV series. This technology is well-intentioned but can sometimes flatten the sound in a way that may be too much for experienced audiophiles. For now, it seems like your best bet is to keep the remote within easy reach and have that finger ready to press the volume button. (Either that or just ride the scale rollercoaster and hope for the best.)