Bill seeks to turn down sound on TV ads Rep. Eshoo wants to force FCC to lower the volume

Representative Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., center, accompanied by fellow members of Congress, appear at a news conference on Capitol Hill, Thursday, May 9, 2002, in Washington, held to call on Congress to investigate the business conduct and pricing practices of the Enron Corp. in California and in other Western states. From left are, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif.; Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash.; Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif.; Eshoo, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. (AP less Representative Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., center, accompanied by fellow members of Congress, appear at a news conference on Capitol Hill, Thursday, May 9, 2002, in Washington, held to call on Congress to investigate ... more Photo: STEPHEN J. BOITANO, AP Photo: STEPHEN J. BOITANO, AP Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Bill seeks to turn down sound on TV ads 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Fed up with TV ads so loud that they send viewers scrambling to hit mute on their remotes, a Bay Area lawmaker is pushing a new bill that would force federal regulators to ratchet down the volume of commercials.

The proposal was introduced this week by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and it isn't winning her any friends in the broadcasting or advertising industries. But Eshoo's House colleagues are warming to the idea, which could address a daily annoyance for millions of TV viewers.

"I've had it with these loud advertisements," said Eshoo, who said she was motivated after being jolted by one too many ear-splitting ads. "If I'm not close to my remote control to push the mute button, it practically blasts you out of the house. It's that annoying. And it's totally unnecessary."

Eshoo is not alone in pressing the issue. British regulators approved similar rules last month that require broadcasters to limit the "maximum subjective loudness" of TV ads after receiving complaints.

In a time of war, soaring gas prices and a slumping economy, curbing the volume of 30-second spots might not seem like a top priority for Congress, but Eshoo insists that, unlike those issues, this problem would be simple to fix.

Her two-page bill would direct the Federal Communications Commission to write new rules within a year setting limits on the volume of ads. Commercials could not have an "average maximum loudness" that exceeds the programming that they accompany. The measure would apply to all spots on broadcast, cable or satellite television.

But major advertisers suggest the bill might be a solution in search of a problem.

"We get lots of complaints about various things, but I haven't really heard any complaints about this issue," said Dan Jaffe, executive vice president in the Washington, D.C., office of the Association of National Advertisers, a trade group that includes advertising heavyweights like Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble.

Adonis Hoffman, a senior vice president for the American Association of Advertising Agencies, an industry trade group, said he believes the FCC might already have the authority to set new volume rules.

"If so," he said, "that might obviate the need for any new legislation."

No co-sponsors yet

Eshoo introduced the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act - CALM Act for short - without much fanfare late Wednesday. She has no co-sponsors, although she said several colleagues are interested. The bill would go through the House Energy and Commerce Committee, of which she is a member. An aide to the committee's chairman, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., said the bill is so new his staff is still reviewing it.

But several House members said Thursday they liked the idea.

"I'd support it," said Rick Boucher, D-Va., also a member of the commerce committee.

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista (San Diego County), who as the founder of a car-alarm company knows something about loud noises, called the bill a good idea.

"If your iPod can normalize the sound so you're not turning the volume up and down, it seems like the FCC should be able to come up with common-sense rules" for TV ads, he said.

The digital difference

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., said he thinks that with the country shifting to digital, high-definition TV, now is a good time for broadcasters and advertisers to set their own standards for volume levels that won't offend viewers.

"This bill might force them to do it," he said.

In Britain, the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, which sets guidelines for the industry, decided to act to limit ads that are "excessively noisy or strident." The new rules go into effect July 7.

The British panel found that advertisers use a technique called audio compression, which shrinks the dynamic range of sounds - the spectrum between loud and quiet - to keep the ad within the same volume range as that of a TV program. But if the ad runs during a movie with a wide sound range, the ads will often blare at the highest level of sound - say, the car chase or the explosion - sending viewers diving for the remote.

Loudness unregulated

The FCC doesn't regulate the volume of television programs and commercials, although it has received complaints about sound levels. In 1984, the agency concluded that there was no effective way to control loudness, which it said was a subjective issue for viewers. New technology, however, makes sound levels more controllable.

Advertising agencies in San Francisco said they try to avoid the blaring sounds associated with used-car salesmen and monster-truck rallies, which can turn off consumers. Scott Aal, creative director for Engine Company 1, said he and his sound mixers work carefully to limit the use of loud noises.

"Some spots call for that," Aal said. "Maybe there is a rock band in the spot and part of the joke is how loud they are. Or a car engine is loud and part of the story requires more volume. So there are those times where you say, 'This should feel pretty loud.' But I've never had anyone suggest to me, 'We have to make this thing blast so it stands out.' "

Chuck McBride, chief creative officer of the Cutwater ad agency in San Francisco, said his firm will lay down track after track of sound - music, background noises, dialogue. After mixing it on high-end equipment, they run it through the small, tinny speakers used in most TV sets.

"You have to remix it so it plays well on a really small speaker," McBride said. "Generally that forces us down (on volume). Sometimes I've done mixes, and I hear it on TV, and it sounded really soft. I've seen other ads that jump out of the TV."

McBride, whose clients include Jeep and Ray-Ban sunglasses, said he finds loud ads annoying, too - "especially when you get those ads that start off shouting, " 'Right now, you can get so-and-so on sale!' " He'd like to see the industry set its own audio standards.

"I don't think the federal government should regulate it," he said. "The (TV) channels should repair it because on bad cable channels, where it's really annoying, they should fix it because it makes you think you're watching a third-rate cable station."