[via Warming Glow]
I don’t watch much live television these days, preferring instead to watch my favourite shows online or on DVD. One of the biggest reasons for my choosing to view TV shows this way is the stupid commercials. Not only are most ads totally inane, mind-numbing nonsense, but they always seem to be several hundred decibels louder than the show you’re watching. Well no more! USA Today is reporting that the U.S. Senate finally voted to veto television networks’ right to make the commercials louder than the show!
The Senate unanimously passed a bill late Wednesday to require television stations and cable companies to limit the volume of commercials and keep them at the level of the programs they interrupt. The House has passed similar legislation. Before it can become law, minor differences between the two versions have to be worked out when Congress returns to Washington after the Nov. 2 election.
Ever since television caught on in the 1950s, the Federal Communication Commission has been getting complaints about blaring commercials. But the FCC concluded in 1984 there was no fair way to write regulations controlling the “apparent loudness” of commercials. So it hasn’t been regulating them.
Now that they won’t be distracted by loud commercials, I wonder if the Senate will actually tackle some relevent issues, of which there are too many to list here.