How to ignore the FCC and get away with it...

[mapsedge]

According to Reuters, the Italian government is planning on stopping advertisers from creating television ads at a significantly higher volume than the shows during which they are played.

<rant>

Like that'll do any good. I mean, didn't we go through a similar deal here in the US? The FCC is VERY strict about it, aren't they?

And it works. Unless you're watching TBS, or TNT. They get around this little restriction with a very simple trick: they run their movies and shows at a significantly reduced volume. So, the advertisers don't turn up the sound, you do. You almost have to in order to hear the dialog.

When commercial time comes around, the ads are played at normal volume. Because your amp is set at "11", you get ads for Cialis and Tampax loud enough for your neighbors to hear.

As rougewench often says: fuckers. If I was in charge, I'd have added to the legislation that either, a: specifies that ad volume can't be significantly louder OR softer, AND vice versa, or b: requires television manufacturers to include a compressor on the TV's pre-amp to normalize the sound.

That's what I'd do.
</rant>

Comments

[iarraidh.livejournal.com]

That's the big misconception.
The commercials are not done at a "louder" volume.
There is a maximum amplitude allowed, and they can't, by law exceed that.
But the average level of most programming varies widely up-and-down.
Commercials keep the avergae amplitude of their ad higher.

All very legal, if annoying.

[foolscap001.livejournal.com]

The other commenter nailed it; audio for commercials is fed through a compressor so that it's always running at 100% modulation.

You want variation in volume in programs. Compressing everything would mean that while J. Random Protagonist is creeping through the haunted house/dark forest/corridor, the background noise would be pumped up as loud as the preceding car chase/chainsaw massacre/horde of zombie Valley Girls scene, killing variety and suspense, not to mention cutting the cables holding up your disbelief.

[billthetailor.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't get me wrong. I know about all that. What I'm saying, specifically, is that TNT and TBS play their movies at a markedly lower volume than any other programming, including advertising. Go to Discovery Channel, Food Network, ABC, CBS, etc etc etc, and compare audio levels for the latest sitcom to the content on TNT or TBS.

Our television shows not just an indicator bar, but also a number indicating current volume. To watch "Eureka" on Sci-Fi, I can set the volume to, say, 25. To watch "Die Hard" on TNT, or any movie for that matter, the volume has to sit on at least 45.

Lower volume for content = higher volume for ads. Same bang, no fines, is all I'm sayin'.

[iarraidh.livejournal.com]

Well that's the sticking point to your headline of "Ignore the FCC and get away with it"

They aren't.

They just found an end-around.

Those that propose that *all* transmissions from a channel meet the same median volume criteria are onto something; but it's hard to legislate.

Life proves that those who mean to accomplish things, good and bad, are 3 steps ahead of anybody passing laws.

You'll always have miscreants because they live on the bleeding edge, while the stodgy, "Vote for ME" types probably still use AOL.