Broadcasting industry must turn down loud commercials

OTTAWA - Broadcasters and television service providers must control the loudness of TV commercials by September 1st 2012, the CRTC has ruled.Tuesday’s decision comes after a public hearing in February which resulted in over 7,000 comments in which “Canadians overwhelmingly expressed the view that the excessive loudness of television commercials has been an irritant for years”, and urged the CRTC to take action.The decision means that both broadcasters and television service providers will be required to adhere to standards developed in 2009 by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) for measuring and controlling television signals to minimize fluctuations in loudness...