The CALM Act was based upon recommendations previously written by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). The ATSC recommendations had established technical specifications for controlling volume. But these specifications were based upon the *average* volume of the content preceding the commercial; the average volume of the commercial needs to match the average volume of the program it is interrupting. Advertisers quickly realized that they could circumvent the spirit of the CALM act by inserting "quiet spots" into their advertisements, to balance the average loudness level. Ads can still be blasted at you when they begin, if they have corresponding low-noise segments later.
Let the whack-a-mole begin! As is reported in this Engadget article, The FCC is tweaking the regulation so that the silent parts of advertisements are not included in their overall loudness average. The new regulations go into effect in June 2015. Any guesses how advertisers will respond? I predict we will start seeing ads that begin loud and then include lots of whispered conversation in the middle or end. Or perhaps by then the last of us will be streaming all our entertainment media, and we'll have other things to complain about re: advertisements.
Also wondering what if anything these developments have meant for this company, which sells tools to prevent loudness spikes while watching television:
Header image from dirtymouse on Flikr.