Loud commercials - soon outlawed?

It's my dream come true - a law against the volume push on commercial breaks.

Oh, you know exactly what I mean, there you are, falling asleep to Saw, and while all that screaming and shouting in the movie is at a fine slumber level you wake up with a scream when ACT NOW! CALL THIS NUMBER! suddenly blares from the TV.

We've bitched about it in the forums, tried to do our best to avoid it, and yet, commercials seem to be getting louder, making commercial break equal to torture if you don't have a fast mute-button. Soon this may be outlawed - dum dum DUM! Why it's all the way up in Congress is a mystery, one would think that a TV channel would care enough about its brand to avoid the commercial-deafness of its viewers.

Lawmakers Make Noise About Loud Commercials

A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D., Calif.) would require the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to "preclude commercials from being broadcast at louder volumes than the program material they accompany."

Broadcasters say they are addressing the problem already. "The major television broadcast networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox, are each, individually, implementing policies that attempt to control loud commercials," said David Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television, a broadcast industry trade group, speaking at a hearing Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee.

Mr. Donovan said Rep. Eshoo's bill could slow TV stations' voluntary efforts to control commercial volumes because any FCC proceeding would generate debate and uncertainty.

"I can assure you that the industry is motivated to act," said NBC Universal Principal Engineer and Audio Architect Jim Starzynksi, also at the hearing. Final review of an industry standard on commercial volume is expected in July, and broadcasters could begin implementing it by fall, he said.