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Turn down those commercials !

B

buoy40

Todays WSJ has a article about Congress asking broadcasters to turn down the volume to on-air commercials.
This use to be the FCC rule sometime back and it looks like the rule may return. I wonder what others regulations of the past may make a return in the future?
 
On cable, at least, the volume level of commercials is BRUTAL. The variation in volume between stations is also annoying. There's no reason for it. Why should I have to buy - and power - a compressor/limiter to avoid audio assault?

Some newer TVs have auto-gain controls to avoid the problem. Why should the TV manufacturers have to compensate for lousy modulation practices by content delivery systems.
 
One pet-peeve of mine is that it is hard to hear dialog on a TV show because of loud background music. Has anyone else experienced this?

When comes to commercials they are so LOUD I end up either hitting the mute button or quickly lowering the sound.

But what really ticks me off is that networks, cable, and local stations jams so many commercials into an hour program or a movie that if one decides to use a DVR to record that program, 9 times out of 10, the DVR runs out before show or movie ends.

Granted one can adjust the recording time by adding an extra minute or two, but that only works if you record something once. Recording on a regular basis reverts back to the time allotted (in the case of a TV show, one hour) the following week.
 
What about a company called "Hotels Network".This company actually broadcasts right over network commericals in hotel rooms. A commerical will start and then suddenly disappear for another commerical and the volume will blast you out of the room. Muting is the only option in this case and of course they are the same commericals over and over again so you memorize it you don't need the voice! ( I think its a ploy to get people to use the hotel lounge or read a book or something).
 
The old saw was, "They're not any louder, they're just not as soft!" - owing to the heavy audio compression in the commercials. When I was in master control, the audio meters and mod monitor showed that the commercials were no louder than the programs, but they sure did sound louder. This seems to be compounded now with TV audio with a much wider dynamic range, and with all sorts of surround-sound-expander-phaser circuits in the TV's.

(Mark_G. -- some DirecTV DVR's allow you to set a "preroll/postroll" on recurring shows - something that came with a software upgrade a year or so ago. I don't know what other units might have something similar.)
 
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