Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

British Regulators Move to Quiet Obnoxiously Loud Commercials

by Darren Murph on May 14, 2008 at 08:20 AM


Offensively loud television commercials have been a worldwide annoyance for years, and while a number of technologies have emerged in an attempt to hush those loud-mouths, British regulators are taking matters into their own hands.

Just last week, the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, which sets British TV ad guidelines, reportedly adopted a new rule establishing that TV ads shouldn't be "excessively noisy or strident." It elaborated by stating that "broadcasters must endeavor to minimize the annoyance that perceived imbalances could cause, with the aim that the audience need not adjust the volume of their television sets during program breaks."

We're told that stations who choose not to invest in the loudness-level meter (which will ensure compliance) may actually have to "turn down the sound during commercials." Of course, whether anyone chooses to actually follow these guidelines has yet to be seen, er, heard.

[Source: IHT via WatchingTVOnline, image courtesy of PaxArcana]

Comments

83

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular