Why are the commercials louder than TV programs?
Our engineers say that, “the commercials you are hearing as being louder than programming are probably CBS network commercials. Because of the way CBS delivers programming to us, we do not have control over the audio levels of material that CBS sends our way; this includes both commercials and programs. We can regulate the levels of local commercials to a certain extent, but since many of them are recorded with lots of music and with little or no times of quietness in them, the human hearing system perceives them as being louder than normal programming, which generally includes less music and lower dialog levels.” Here is a brief summary of what the FCC says, The FCC does not regulate the volume of broadcast programming, including commercials. Surveys and technical studies reveal that the perceived loudness of particular broadcast matter is a subjective judgment that varies with each viewer and listener and is influenced by many factors, such as the material’s content and style and the
