Congress Passes CALM ACT - Limits TV Commercial Volume Level

Published Monday, December 6, 2010 11:12 AM

So it seems Congress has finally solved one of life's little annoyances, super loud commercials that interrupt our TV programs! This has bothered people for decades, your watching a program and then all of a sudden some infomercial guy is yelling at you at three times the volume of the previous program.The CALM Act, Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation has already passed in the Senate and the House of Representatives and is just waiting for Obama's signature. The Act prevents commercials from being louder than the programs they interrupt, and the FCC will be charged with regulating and enforcing the policy. Advertisers have one year to adjust the sound levels in their commercials so some time in the next year we should start to see a change.This was such a problem that TV manufacturers have included features into their TV's that supposedly maintain a constant sound level, all though I never noticed them working that well. I have to say I'm not a huge fan of Obama's administration, but this has got to be the best legislation I have seem him pass.