But, so was Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. All promised to "do something" about the loudness of TV commercials. That has been the most common complaint to the Federal Communications Commission since 1980, averaging over twenty thousand complaints each year.
At least Obama "did something" and got Congress to pass the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM). In 2013, commercials were supposed to become less loud. Did you even notice? I didn't think so.
The burden of compliance is on TV broadcasters and cable providers. They have purchased equipment to insure that average commercial loudness is no greater than the programming. Quickly, the advertisers found a way around this by introducing a few seconds of silence at the beginning and end of commercials, keeping the average acceptable but changing peak loudness even more abruptly, still making viewers look for the remote. Now, there are arguments about excluding the increased bass during the commercials. The battle has temporarily shifted from the legislators, who are claiming they "did something," to regulators, who are being over-whelmed with technicians and lawyers. The battle will eventually have to return to the legislators.
If the President of the United States is the most powerful man on the planet, why are they impotent against the advertising business? Because the advertising business is the most powerful business on the planet! That business is powerful enough to convince people they should eat unhealthy food. It is powerful enough to convince people that credit card debt is good. It is even powerful enough to make people vote against their own best interest. It has no moral compass.
And, it is more powerful than five different Presidents of the United States of America!
At least Obama "did something" and got Congress to pass the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM). In 2013, commercials were supposed to become less loud. Did you even notice? I didn't think so.
The burden of compliance is on TV broadcasters and cable providers. They have purchased equipment to insure that average commercial loudness is no greater than the programming. Quickly, the advertisers found a way around this by introducing a few seconds of silence at the beginning and end of commercials, keeping the average acceptable but changing peak loudness even more abruptly, still making viewers look for the remote. Now, there are arguments about excluding the increased bass during the commercials. The battle has temporarily shifted from the legislators, who are claiming they "did something," to regulators, who are being over-whelmed with technicians and lawyers. The battle will eventually have to return to the legislators.
If the President of the United States is the most powerful man on the planet, why are they impotent against the advertising business? Because the advertising business is the most powerful business on the planet! That business is powerful enough to convince people they should eat unhealthy food. It is powerful enough to convince people that credit card debt is good. It is even powerful enough to make people vote against their own best interest. It has no moral compass.
And, it is more powerful than five different Presidents of the United States of America!
