New ad volume regs to come into force September 2012, CRTC says

Canadian broadcasters will have to control the loudness of their TV commercials by next September, the CRTC said Tuesday. The commission said in a decision that, during a public proceeding on the issue that began in February last year, it received more than 7,000 comments from viewers complaining about the volume of broadcasted commercials. “Over the years, we have seen a steady increase in consumer complaints about loud adds,” CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said in a statement Tuesday. “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.” The commission said volume levels will be enforced according to the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s (ATSC) international standard. Detailed regulations will be published for comment before the end of the year. In 2009, the ATSC, an organization that develops television standards, adopted a practice to establish and maintain a target loudness for digital television. The CRTC said its decision means viewers will no longer have to manually adjust the volume of their television sets when regular programming cuts to a commercial break. “Broadcasters will have to ensure that both programs and ads are transmitted at the same volume,” the CRTC said. Media Access Canada (MAC), an organization working towards a broadcasting system of full accessibility by 2020, supported the commission’s decision, saying regulations are necessary to protect viewers. MAC president Beverley Milligan said in an interview that, without CRTC loudness regulations, broadcasters would be at the mercy of advertisers who have sought to utilize volume compression to gain viewers' attention. “It’s an area that really did need the CRTC regulation to level the playing field for broadcasters,” Milligan said. “Because if one broadcaster, in good conscience, would manage the loudness, and another one might not, then they would get the business. It really is leveling the playing field.” Milligan added that the commission’s decision is important for hard-of-hearing viewers because they are most affected by sudden volume increases. “They are going to celebrate this, because they have been fighting for years,” Milligan said. “It’s not something a hearing aid can decipher or control,” she said. “ something that Media Access Canada is celebrating.” In a previous interview, Milligan told The Wire Report that advertising volume increases are “highly offensive” to viewers wearing hearing aids. A sudden increase in volume during commercials can cause a shock to the hearing system, she said. The CRTC said Tuesday that the ATSC’s recommended practice was developed in 2009 and that equipment is already available to allow broadcasters to comply. The commission said it considers the cost of implementing the solutions. Some Canadian broadcasters have made efforts to regulate advertising volumes on their own. CBC/Radio-Canada has told the CRTC that it created an internal committee to review its loudness monitoring practices in January of 2010. The CBC said that it was looking at next generation loudness meters. In comments submitted to the commission last year, the CBC said improved loudness meters offer new features such as the measurement of audio loudness in a multichannel environment, improved automation and better display of multichannel audio. In response to the commission’s decision Tuesday, the CBC said it was evaluating the new guidelines. “It just came out. We are studying it now,” Marco Dubé, a spokesman for the CBC, said by email. “The CRTC has imposed a date by which we need to implement a solution (Sept. 1, 2012). We’re going to get working on meeting the deadline.” Rogers Communications Inc. also began regulating loudness by measuring each program in accordance with loudness measurements set by the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) radio communication sector. In comments to the CRTC last year, Rogers said the inconsistent use of digital television’s wider audio range leads to significant loudness variations. The company said it sought to address the issue of varying audio levels by “deploying an integrated hardware solution on its cable distribution network.” Rogers told the CRTC that its hardware is capable of adjusting loudness levels to maintain a constant level on the channel and has since been applied to nearly 120 linear television channels. The new regulations will not apply to advertising volumes online. Milligan said she does not expect ad volumes to change in an unregulated online environment. “It gets back to, if one online website won’t take the ad, then the advertiser will go elsewhere,” she said. dgrenier@thewirereport.ca

New ad volume regs to come into force September 2012, CRTC says

News | 09/13/2011 8:54 pm EDT

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