Lawmakers Want TV Stations To Dial Down Advertising Volume

Television commercials are too loud, as most viewers know, and members of Congress want broadcasters to turn down the volume. A bill sponsored by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) would require the Federal Communications Commission to "preclude commercials from being broadcast at louder volumes than the program material they accompany." That idea is hard to resist, but it might be difficult to mandate. "Many different entities are responsible for producing and distributing the content consumers see and hear," Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) said Thursday at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee. Broadcasters say they are addressing the problem already. "The major television broadcast networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS (CBS) and Fox, are each, individually, implementing policies that attempt to control loud commercials," said David Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television, or MSTV, a broadcast industry trade group.