WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Commission at its February Open Meeting commenced a new proceeding inviting public comment on rules designed to “protect” consumers from loud commercials.
Through a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission will consider additional actions it could take today to make sure TV viewers aren’t inundated by exceedingly loud commercials in the future.
The FCC implemented rules in 2012 requiring television stations, cable operators, and satellite video providers to ensure that commercials are transmitted at appropriate volume levels. The FCC initially saw a decrease in the number of consumer complaints after these rules became effective. Over the past several years the Commission received thousands of complaints about loud commercials on broadcast, cable, and satellite television. The high number of complaints took a troubling jump last year, which warrants a second look.
The Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on the need for updates to the Commission’s rules implementing the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act. Today’s action seeks input from consumers and industry on the extent to which the CALM Act rules are effective in controlling and preventing loud commercials on programming provided by television broadcasters and pay TV providers like cable and satellite. The NPRM also considers what actions the Commission, industry, or standard developers could take to further minimize consumer harm.
While Chairman Carr and Commissioner Starks approved of the NPRM, each issued separate statements from the Commission’s two Democrats, Geoffrey Starks and Anna M. Gómez.
