Forum
Viewers who regularly watch live broadcast TV instead of from recordings often find themselves having to turn down the TV during the ad-breaks, not just because the ads are often annoying, but also due to how loud they are compared to the TV programme that was on. The likely reason for this is that as soon as an ad-break starts, many consumers often leave the room, such as to grab a drink or snack. As a result, TV broadcasters and the advertisers increase the volume of the ads to make them more clearly heard, particularly when the viewer is in another room.
Now the UK broadcasting watchdogs have prepared new tough laws that will ban the running of commercials louder to grab attention. These rules come as a result of years of viewer's complaints and frustration about excessively loud advertising. Under the new law, the maximum loudness of advertisements must be consistent with the maximum loudness of the programmes, which will also ensure all ads play at similar fair volume to one another without advertisers trying to compete with each another to stand out on loudness.
The Advertising Standards Authority has already upheld complaints against ITV and Channel 5 in 2005 after complaints that these broadcasters have raised the sound levels during commercial breaks. Last year, the authority received 100 complaints about loud adverts. With such a low complaint figure, it reckons consumers have started taking the excessively loud ads for granted; however, it still wants this issue dealt with. The new rules take effective this summer, which will be a nice welcome for those who need to watch live TV. For example, watching the World Cup final from a PVR recording to be able to skip the ads is just not the same as watching the match live!
Next: LCDs should be lighter and greener
Previous: Japan plans copyright fees on iPods
I agree with what you said, however TV stations often delay their live sports broadcasts slightly which causes the radio commentary to be out of sync with the action.
This message was edited at: 07-05-2008 14:12
I agree with what you said howerver TV stations often delay their live sports broadcasts slightly which causes the radio commentary to be out of sync with the action.
