Industry Groups Say FCC Can't Tighten Calm Act Rules

Both NAB and NCTA said Calm Act language instructed the FCC only to require broadcasters and multichannel video program distributors to implement the ATSC’s recommended practices for handling commercial loudness -- often called A/85. The FCC “has already fulfilled this directive and has no authority to regulate commercial loudness beyond this,” NCTA said. Added NAB: “The Act does not authorize the Commission to establish new rules or impose more burdensome compliance mechanisms beyond those grounded in A/85.”

NCTA and SIA also pushed back on the NPRM’s suggestion that the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act could be read as providing the FCC with authority to further restrict commercial loudness or to extend Calm Act provisions to streamers. The FCC’s authority over video programming under the act “is limited to specified closed captioning and audio description regulations,” NCTA said. It “cannot serve as a source of authority” for expanding commercial loudness. The Calm Act “does not explicitly list streaming providers within the scope of its provisions,” said SIA, whose members include Disney, Paramount+, Peacock, Netflix, Max and others. Since the act doesn’t mention streamers, FCC efforts to apply its rules to them would be rejected by the courts based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright v. Raimondo ruling, SIA said. Previous “unsuccessful congressional efforts to amend the CALM Act to apply to ad-supported video streaming services underscore Congress’s view that it does not want to see video streaming regulated."

NCTA and SIA blamed consumer concerns about loud ads in part on home audio devices. Those devices often include preset “cinema” modes that expand the audio’s dynamic range, resulting in “louder loud sounds,” NCTA said. “Consumers may select these modes expecting clearer dialogue or better sound quality, only to experience unexpected volume spikes, especially during transitions between programming and commercials."

Streaming ads are dynamically inserted into programming by third-party networks such as Google Ads, SIA said. “Streaming platforms often do not have direct control over the loudness levels of these ads, as they can be delivered as pre-encoded audio files with already established volume levels.” Many ads inserted this way use audio that may not be optimized for multichannel home audio systems. “When stereo audio is played on a multi-channel speaker system, the sound is often up-mixed or artificially distributed across speakers, which can increase perceived loudness, making commercials seem louder than they are,” SIA said.

NAB and NCTA expressed surprise at the NPRM’s description of a recent uptick in commercial loudness complaints. While the FCC reported receiving 1,700 complaints in 2024 that appear related to broadcast, cable and satellite, NCTA said that number is “dramatically out of sync with the small number of complaints our members received in 2024.” Neither the NPRM “nor the consumer complaint data the FCC publicly shares provides any level of detail about the contents of such complaints or the video programmer involved,” NAB said. The trade group has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FCC “seeking additional information regarding these complaints to ascertain what percentage, if any, are directed specifically to broadcast stations.” NAB called for the FCC to reform and improve its complaint intake process to gather more specific information from consumers.

The Hearing Loss Association of America said those with hearing loss can find watching TV or streaming services frustrating because of loud commercials. “While some may need to increase the volume to better hear programming, commercials that are intentionally loud at the outset -- even if technically compliant with the current standard -- can be jarring and unpleasant,” the filing said. “We urge the FCC to simplify the process for reporting CALM Act violations,” it added. “The current system places an undue burden on consumers to document and report issues. A user-friendly method to quickly tag loud commercials in real time would better serve the public and promote compliance.”

The FCC should “increase oversight and impose stronger penalties on broadcasters, cable providers, and digital streaming platforms that violate loudness regulations,” said Quiet Communities, a noise pollution group. “Excessive noise is more than an inconvenience -- it is a serious and preventable public health issue.”

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr encouraged consumers to comment on potential commercial loudness enforcement, and the docket shows about 100 such comments filed by Thursday’s deadline. The news distortion proceeding against CBS drew around 8,500 comments by its deadline, while the “Delete” docket had drawn roughly 600 comments by late Friday, that proceeding’s last day.

The bulk of the consumer comments in the Calm Act docket appeared to favor stricter FCC rules for commercial volumes. “It's obnoxious. The only option is to mute them completely -- and if you forget, or if you're not near your remote when a break occurs, you get blown out of your chair,” read a comment from Matthew Hill. “I'd prefer to have zero permissible audio on commercials, but I'd settle for 6 dB quieter than the average volume in the program during which they air.” A filing from Tandrek Rardin said: “I have my tv on a proper level for watching my show, then [a] commercial comes on and screams at me. It gets so loud at times my infant child wakes up from sleep.”