California bans loud commercials on Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services

California has passed a new law aimed at quieting loud ads on streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu and Prime Video, requiring commercial sizes to match the volume levels of the content. California Governor Gavin Newsom Sign the law on monday.

Starting July 1, 2026, streaming services will not be allowed to “carry the sound of commercials louder than the video content that the ads accompany,” according to the text of the bill.

“We heard Californians loud and clear, and what is clear is that they do not want commercials at a higher volume than they previously enjoyed,” Governor Newsom said in a statement. press release. “By signing SB 576, California is communicating this inconvenience across streaming platforms, which were previously not subject to commercial volume regulations passed by Congress in 2010.”

The legislation is modeled on the Loudness in Commercial Advertising (Quiet) Act, which in 2010 banned the sound of television advertisements from being broadcast louder than the broadcast of the television programme. With this new legislation, streaming services must comply with the same commercial size regulations as traditional television broadcasters in California.

Senate Bill 576 was authored by California State Sen. Tom Omberg, who cited a complaint from his legislative director, Zach Keller, about how the loud volume of commercials broadcasting was waking up Keller’s newborn daughter, Samantha.

“This bill was inspired by Baby Samantha and every exhausted parent who finally gets a baby to sleep, only to get a gushing ad that undoes all that hard work,” Sen. Thomas Omberg said in the press release. “SB 576 brings some much-needed peace and quiet to California families by ensuring that broadcast advertising is not louder than the shows we actually want to watch.”

Given California’s influence in the entertainment world, this legislation could put pressure on streaming platforms to cut back on loud commercials across the country.