The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (/) (CALM Act) requires the
U.S. Federal Communications Commission to bar the audio of
TV commercials from being broadcast louder than the
TV program
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...
material they accompany by requiring all "multichannel video programming" distributors to implement the "Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television" issued by the international industry group
Advanced Television Systems Committee.
The final bill was passed on September 29, 2010.
No specific penalties are given; those are to be set by the FCC in its regulations. A TV broadcaster or distributor is "in compliance" if it installs and uses suitable equipment and software.
[ Unlike some FCC regulations, cable system operators are subject to the rule in addition to broadcast stations.][
After issuing regulations, the FCC began enforcing those regulations on December 13, 2012, after a one-year ]grace period
A grace period is a period immediately after the deadline for an obligation during which a late fee, or other action that would have been taken as a result of failing to meet the deadline, is waived provided that the obligation is satisfied duri ...
.
History
The bill was the United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
companion to proposed legislation in the House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
by Representative Anna Eshoo
Anna A. Eshoo ( ; née Georges; born December 13, 1942) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2025. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...
(D-CA), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. She said she was motivated to write the bill after a loud commercial interrupted conversation at a family dinner; when she turned to her brother-in-law, asking him to "do something" about the loud television, he replied, "Well, you're the congresswoman. Why don't you do something about it?". According to Eshoo, no one turned her down when she looked for supporters to the bill, and it passed the Communications Subcommittee. The technical requirements for measuring loudness were taken entirely from a formerly voluntary "recommended practice" issued by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) on November 4, 2009. Eshoo told ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' that legislation to mitigate the volume of commercials on TV was among the most popular pieces of legislation she has sponsored in her 18 years in Congress.
Prior to adjourning for the midterm recess, the United States Senate unanimously passed the bill on September 30, 2010. Before it was signed into law in December, minor differences between the two versions had to be worked out when Congress returned to Washington after the November 2 election. The reconciled bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
on December 15, 2010, as Public Law 111–311.
On May 27, 2011, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Media Bureau (MB) Docket 11–93, to implement the CALM Act. Twelve parties filed comments, which are now available in the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS).
The FCC adopted its rules on December 13, 2011, and they took effect on December 13, 2012. Television viewers are asked to report loud commercials that violate this bill to the FCC.
References
External links
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FCC's Loud Commercials Page
*
ATSC Recommended Practice A/85 – Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television
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FCC Encyclopedia: Loud Commercials and the CALM Act
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{{Federal Communications Commission
2010 legislation
American television commercials
Broadcast law
December 2012 in the United States
United States federal communications legislation
Noise pollution