Those insanely loud TV commercials that disrupt viewing will soon be a thing of the past. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted a new rule that will limit the broadcast volume of television ads.

The rule is an implementation of 2010's Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (the CALM Act), which gives the Commission authority over excessive commercial loudness.

The rule will require TV commercials to have the same average volume as the programs they accompany. Historically, advertisers have requested that their advertisements broadcast louder than the accompanying programming. Other advertisers caught on and started encoding their ads with louder sounds. It's a vicious cycle that can be jarring — and disquieting — for anyone who tries to watch television.

Local advertisements are the most frequent offenders — thanks to various insert procedures from the ad broker — though some cable and satellite companies have taken it upon themselves to turn down the volume.

The rule won't go into effect overnight; the FCC will give stations and MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors) a year to reach compliance. Hopefully, overly loud ads will be a thing of the past by Dec. 13, 2012.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mgkaya