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 between programming and commercials. The Commission promised to publish draft regulations for comment before the end of this year.
“Over the years, we have seen a steady increase in consumer complaints about loud ads,” said CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein, in a statement. “Broadcasters have allowed ear-splitting ads to disturb viewers and have left us little choice but to set out clear rules that will put an end to excessively loud ads. The technology exists, let’s use it.”
