Congress getting involved in television advertising levels.

[Roy Harter]

Relief from loud TV ads may be near - Yahoo! News

[soundguydave]

Sounds great, but I doubt anything will come of it.

[pbell]

I'm curious, they're saying that ads won't be able to peak beyond a certain volume etc - the reason ads are loud is because they are slammed with a limiter right? The peak volume may be lower but it will be slammed all the same and TV ads will still be perceived as being much louder.

Am I wrong in thinking this way?

[nathand]

Originally Posted by pbell

I'm curious, they're saying that ads won't be able to peak beyond a certain volume etc - the reason ads are loud is because they are slammed with a limiter right? The peak volume may be lower but it will be slammed all the same and TV ads will still be perceived as being much louder.

Am I wrong in thinking this way?

If this were to ever happen, then advertisers could use the same spec sheet the networks already have. And these call for both a peak limit and a LKFS number to be adhered to.

Simply put, "slamming with a limiter" is detected by the LKFS meter. Right now ads are at -8 dbfs for the most part, but it is not uncommon for them to also be at -18, -17 LKFS (Some even louder). If ads are required to be at +/- 2 @ -23 LKFS then they can't be slammed.

A couple problems with this:

Right now I'm thinking of a spot I mixed that is playing on CBS,NBC,ABC and FOX as well as any number of cable channels. Everyone of these networks' spec sheet is different. It is unrealistic to think that I could or should have to make different mixes for every station a commercial airs on. So all the networks would have to agree on a spec and that seems very unlikely.

Another issue is how LKFS is an average. So take a show like American Idol, it might be at a reasonable LKFS level overall, but for sure it's intros and outros are not. Ba Da, Ba Da, Ba Da, Ba Da, BaDow, Ba Da is at like -15 LKFS!
So if my investment bank spot comes in after that @ -23, then it is going to sound low.

I recently have tried to make an effort to be more in line with the networks' specs. I am currently in jeopardy of losing at least one client over it.

[bizzle]

I just don't think we need more specs and measurements. TV commercials have different content then TV shows, and as Nathan eluded to, there isn't one-size-fits-all. Sometimes spots are over-modulated, thats true, but usually they are in the same relative level, and on many networks they only seem slightly louder than the TV show. But I find I have to set my listening volume for each TV show and Movie too.

[bizzle]

Originally Posted by nathand

I recently have tried to make an effort to be more in line with the networks' specs. I am currently in jeopardy of losing at least one client over it.

I think you have to mix competitively with other spots.. ..fight the specs!

[Uncle Bob]

My understanding is that the commercial may not be louder than the shows on the channel. However, the show will be dynamic - although they are getting less so - so the commercial can be as loud as the loudest portion of the show. The use of multi-band compression increases the apparent loudness of the spots without increasing the actual volume.

[pbell]

I agree, I don't think they'll ever all agree on a spec that is universal, oh well. Commercials are a whole different beast than shows, and since it is the commercials that make the money I guess its fair for them to want to be louder (ouch, it pains me to say that). However in the next few years I wonder what is going to happen to commercials. These days I either watch shows on my friends PVR or wait to get the DVDs when they come out. Unless I happen to see one of my spots on, I skip right over the commercials.

[kk@jamsync.com]

Originally Posted by Roy Harter

Relief from loud TV ads may be near - Yahoo! News

Oh goody...they've been so successful at solving the financial crisis. I can't wait for them to tackle this. Will it be before or after health care?

[musikwerks]

In Australia we have OP48, or Operational Practice number 48.

Here it is....

It's completely un-enforceable but it came about as a result of viewer complaints over the level of TVC's vs regular programming.

[pbell]

Why can't all the networks just get along?!!!!

[soundshaper]

Originally Posted by kk@jamsync.com

Oh goody...they've been so successful at solving the financial crisis. I can't wait for them to tackle this. Will it be before or after health care?

Ha, now we think very much alike, lol. However, there is much validity in that comment... soon they will have their hands in everything!

I mix several action-sports shows, and I have found myself having to push my mix into a brickwall fairly hard just to compete with the network's own ads and bumpers! They aren't adhering to their own specs!

[pbell]

Originally Posted by soundshaper

Ha, now we think very much alike, lol. However, there is much validity in that comment... soon they will have their hands in everything!

I mix several action-sports shows, and I have found myself having to push my mix into a brickwall fairly hard just to compete with the network's own ads and bumpers! They aren't adhering to their own specs!

About two weeks I mixed an episode (1 of 5) for an online series. It was only 3 minutes long but it was great! I was given no specs which didn't really matter since I had no ads to compete with. It was my first real mix of this sort but I think it turned pretty good.

[lediana]

Thanks so much for sharing the post.



credit auto

[introvert]

I agree with KK that having congress tackle this is scary. I also agree that the commercials are too loud. I don't know what the best solution is to this, but as others have said, the clients are the ones driving this. As long as they want it as obnoxiously loud as possible, there's nothing we can really do. If we have a spec to meet, however, and it has legal teeth, then that might finally push the volumes down. Something should be done though. I don't think I know a person who DOESN'T mute the television when an ad comes on. I can't imagine that's the result advertisers are pushing for.

On a side note, I have aggressively cut television advertising out of my family's life because I find the content annoying and occasionally offensive. I cut off our satellite service earlier this year, and we now watch all shows via internet services (i.e. iTunes, Amazon VOD, Netflix streaming, network web sites, etc). The content is piped into media PCs connected to each of our televisions. This has created an amazing result: we spend far less time in front of the TV, when we DO watch we're only seeing things we're interested in and with very minimal commercial interruption, we read far more and spend more time together. I've also noticed that, since cutting these things out of our lives, I feel less stressed in general. I've also cut out radio advertising by getting a Sirius radio and listening to more podcasts/net radio. I love that there's always music playing when I'm driving. Well worth the little money spent.

[rhumphries]

So Mark is the reason we are getting less commercial work these days! Get him!

-R

[ggegan]

Originally Posted by soundshaper

... soon they will have their hands in everything!

I hate to break the news to you, but "they" is us. This is the USA, it's "our" government. we elect our representatives and they do what they believe will get them re-elected.

[jikky]

My Toshiba TV has a half-mute feature. It's like putting my DAW in DIM mode. I love it.

On a serious note I wonder if someone will ever do a study on the emotional effects overly loud commercials have on society. I personally come to have a hate for the product being advertised and it becomes a part of my do not buy list, but I don't curse at the TV anymore. I just hit the handy half mute feature!

[introvert]

Originally Posted by rhumphries

So Mark is the reason we are getting less commercial work these days! Get him!

-R

Hahaha... I'm not doing ad work anymore, you don't have to be either :)

[nathand]

Originally Posted by introvert

Hahaha... I'm not doing ad work anymore, you don't have to be either :)

Cause reality TV is sooooo much more rewarding

Product placement has completely shattered ones ability to claim a moral superiority for working on shows over spots.

Oh, what's that...you only work on shows for HBO...ya I saw your 5 minute Ferrari ad on Entourage last night.

Sleep easy.

[bizzle]

Okay, okay.. everyone's right, we gotta ease up on the compression and levels on commercials... okay, you go first. (meanwhile I will be picking up your former clients).. .

[Rick Sanchez]

Originally Posted by kk@jamsync.com

Oh goody...they've been so successful at solving the financial crisis. I can't wait for them to tackle this. Will it be before or after health care?

I have no fear of congress trying to tackle it as it's obvious that the networks won't regulate themselves. That said, knowing where their politician's bread and butter comes from, the chances of anything actually happening are slim to none.

The only thing that even stands a chance of solving the level wars are grass roots campaigns by consumers flooding the advertisers with complaints. Networks won't do it, but if advertisers get enough complaints, they might. Unfortunately, most of us are too busy and too lazy to deal ro*******s put up by large corporations to avoid hearing consumer complaints.