Congress Could Mute Loud Commercials

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Congress Could Mute Loud Commercials

The AP via Yahoo:

Television viewers jarred by abrupt spikes in volume during commercial breaks may someday be able to give their mute buttons a rest.

“I not only dive for the mute button, but I end up having to close my windows so that the blast doesn’t affect by neighbors,” says Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. “I live on a cul-de-sac, and so the sound resonates.”

Irritated with loud commercials, the California Democrat found it was also a common complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. So she drafted a bill aimed at preventing TV ads from playing noticeably louder than the programs they sponsor.

[...] Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, says Congress should have higher priorities than strident commercials.

“The idea that this is a problem that is so big that it requires legislative action is incredibly absurd,” he said. “I don’t think anyone’s ears have ever been damaged by this.”

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By msgmi, December 15, 2009 at 9:07 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Congress should tend to its more important issues being on how to serve Wall Street at the expense of Main Street. The FCC should have tackled this problem and if it had no authority to do so to “de-voluminize”, congress should have given it a blank check a la you know who people.

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