Loud TV commercials going away at midnight
A visitor to the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) 2012 consumer electronics trade fair in Berlin, Germany looks at the Panasonic ETW5 energy efficient Smart TV flat-screen televisions.
Loud, annoying television commercials are about to get a lot quieter.
Starting at midnight tonight, new Federal Communications Commission rules will require TV networks to pump down the volume and play all commercials at the same volume as programs, according to Mother Jones.
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Congress passed the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act — or CALM Act — in 2010, and the FCC adopted the rules in December 2011.
Providers were given a grace period to update their equipment, but now it's time to pipe down — or pay up.
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TV stations and cable providers will be responsible for monitoring the loudness of ads, and the FCC wants to know if they're doing their job, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
Viewers can call 1-888-225-5322 to report loud commercials or mail the information to the FCC's Consumer and Government Complaints Division in Washington, DC.
Similar rules went into effect in Canada in August this year.