Turning It Down a Notch
Posted by DDOCS in Media, tags: Advertising, Entertainment, Laws, Marketing, Media, TelevisionWouldn’t it be nice not have to lunge for the remote when the commercial break starts? Television ads are loud and can be jarring, especially if you aren’t expecting the jump in volume. Well, we aren’t the only ones who have noticed.
There is currently legislation moving through Congress that would limit the volume of TV ads. If it passes, the law would stipulate that commercials be no louder than the average decibels of the program in which they appear. (The current rule allows ads to broadcast at the highest volume peak of the program.)
Broadcasters say they are aware of the problem and are working on their own plan to limit ad volume. But, this isn’t exactly a new gripe from viewers. The industry has had years and years to implement their own solution. And yet, commercials are still louder than they should be, which forces people to find ways around seeing them. Services like DVR, Hulu, and TiVo are gaining in popularity because they allow consumers to minimize–or skip altogether–the annoyingly loud commercials that interrupt television shows. If the ads were tolerable, perhaps more viewers would stick with broadcast television.
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The increased volume of commercials is certainly most annoying, but the government has no business regulating this (or most other aspects of life that we’ve allowed it to control). As it says in the declaration of Independence, “to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men”. Whose rights are being violated by loud commercials?