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February 2010
US
BANS LOUD VOLUME ADS
This Should Be A Message To
Indian Broadcasters & Advertisers,
Before The Indian Govt. Too Is Forced To Step In !
 A
US national telephone survey of 1,000 TV viewers, conducted
for Harris Corporation showed that 89% of U.S. television
viewers are so annoyed by loud TV commercials that they
reduce or mute the volume, or change the channel altogether.
33% of those surveyed said they wanted government regulation
to curb loud ads, while 29% did not favour regulation.
"As the survey shows, television viewers are clearly
tired of being jolted out of their seats by loud commercials,"
said Brian Cabeceiras, vice president of strategic marketing
and technology for Harris Broadcast Communications.
CALM
ACT
Recently, The United
States House of Representatives voted to approve a measure
that would control the volume level of commercials.
The bill, "is aimed at stopping TV ads from playing
noticeably louder than programs." It was introduced
by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.
The U.S. Congress,
was responding to thousands of viewer complaints received
each year. the new legislation is called the 'Commercial
Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act'. It requires
all broadcasters to strictly adhere to the ATSC's recommended
practice on the issue.
SURVEY
RESULTS
|
u |
89% |
Resented
Loud Commercials |
|
u |
41% |
Turned
The Volume Down |
|
u |
22% |
Completely
Muted The Volume |
|
u |
17% |
Changed
The Channel Altogether |
|
u |
Loudness
Negatively Impacted Product Perception |
:
61% |
|
u |
Less
Likely To Pay Attention Or Consider The Product |
:
38% |
|
u |
Louder
Ads More Likely To Get Their Attention |
:
5% |
|
ATSC
LOUDNESS CODE
The Advanced Television
Systems Committee (ATSC), the standards agency for the
USA's 1,800-plus broadcasters, recently developed a
Recommended Practice for television broadcasters to
address the loudness issue. The recommended practice
outlines the target dialogue level at -24 on a -1 to
-31 decibel scale - with -1 being the loudest and -31
being the softest.
If properly followed
by broadcasters, the Recommended Practice will keep
the loudness of commercials at or near the loudness
of the programming they accompany, thus preventing startling
variations of audio when commercials come on. Several
TV networks already have begun implementing this practice.
COMMERCIAL
OPPORTUNITY
Harris Corporation
and digital technology company DTS Inc. are collaborating
to assist broadcasters in their efforts to adhere to
the ATSC Recommended Practice. They are providing products
that measure and correct the audio levels of commercials
and ensure audio content stays within the specific range.
Additionally, several
test and measurement products offered by Harris have
loudness monitoring built into them. These cutting-edge
products - along with new standards for loudness measurement
techniques - can help "level out" the differences
and maintain natural sounding programs and commercials.
Atleast for TV viewers
in the USA, the era of shockingly loud commercials is
a thing of the past. n
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