For viewers repeatedly startled by annoying loud commercials during their favorite shows and sporting events, the FCC just might come to the rescue -- but they're asking the very same aggravated viewers for their help in turn.
Believe it or not, there's been a law in place for over a decade to combat the menacing volume of these ads, but the law has never been enforced. The CALM (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation) Act was written by U.S. Rep. Anne Eshoo (D-CA) and signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010.
Rep. Eshoo drafted a letter to the FCC last week to address the rising number of complaints, following up on an earlier letter she wrote to the agency last year. "On July 21, 2020, I wrote to then-Chairman [Ajit] Pai, requesting information about complaints related to and enforcement of the CALM Act," Eshoo wrote. "His response of August 11, 2020, indicated that the FCC has never brought an enforcement action under the law, even though the FCC receives thousands of complaints."
"It is for these reasons I ask that the FCC investigate the rise in the loudness of TV advertising complaints and take enforcement actions as appropriate," Eshoo urged.
The FCC responded in a statement issued Monday. "These rules have been in effect now for many years and have been revisited only once since initial adoption to adopt minor changes," the statement read.
"We seek comment on the extent to which our rules have been effective in preventing loud commercials. In particular, we invite consumers to tell us their experiences as they watch programming provided by television broadcasters and MVPDs."
So irritated viewers can now direct their complaints directly to the FCC. Excessively loud television advertisements are nothing new, however -- viewers have routinely voiced such complaints since at least the '70s.
Source: The Wrap
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