There has been something that has been bothering me for years but I never thought would become a political issue. It is the practice of TV broadcasters cranking up the volume when their shows go to commercial, which can be very aggravating to people with sensitive hearing. Congrats to Conservative MP Nina Grewall's private members bill to force broadcasters to air commercials at the same decibel level as their regular programming. I only hope that this law, if passed, also applies to podcasts because some ESPN promos blow up my ear drums.
I am thankful for private members bills, too bad Iggy doesn't care to show up and vote on them.
I respectfully disagree. I am not sure why so many think government should get involved (yet again) to deal with everything we find annoying or dislike. Yes, I know about the increase in volume, but I prefer to use my mute button rather than running to big brother. Frankly I am fed up with all the government interference in our personal lives and do not want to see it increase.
ReplyDeleteI love this PMB and hope it passes.
ReplyDeleteI complained many years ago to CTV, got a response that essentially said I was imagining it was louder, denied doing it.
I go with the mute button comment. I keep it handy and mute every commercial. We don't need the government to stick their into it. The next thing you know some mealy-mouthed, bottom-feeding, bureaucrat will be suggesting that the government set the decibel level allowed in our homes...and some moronic politician will support it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alain,and Powell.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I have talked about this many times; she said that should invent something to automatically adjust the volume when it goes up. My wife comes from socialist Britain and I am Canadian and we never once said the government should do something. I guess that is part of the reason we would be Tea Party voters; we don't see where the government should do much more than national defence and maybe some basic laws. ie. don't murder, don't steal etc.
At last! Leave it to the Conservatives to try to correct what is an obtuse practice. It is VERY annoying when the commercials are so much louder and it is a BIG problem and has been going on for some time. I complained to local TV about it back in 2000! Of course they use the excuse that they are not turning up the volume - it's the advertisers and their use of 'compressed' sound - but whatever the logistics - the programs are broadcast at a much lower volume than advertisements. We shouldn't have to man the remote so much! We shouldn't have to rely on some 'volumizer' chip in the TV's [that don't help either] to manage this volume differentiation. Kudos to the Conservatives for paying attention to issues. One much also ask - why has it come to legislation? Where is the Broadcast Standards Council and the CRTC in this? They are the agencies responsible for regulating the advertisers/broadcasters.
ReplyDeleteIf this is some thin edgge of a regulatory wedge then we can reverse it. I am not happy at all with the volume of commercials.
ReplyDeleteActually, this should be a feedback to advertizers/broadcasters vs, gov't regulation, in that:
ReplyDeleteif the commercial is too loud, we hit mute;
if it is at normal level, we don't bother.
If you want us to sit through your ad, do not make it loud, as we hate it and do not listen. Also very loud ads make us mad and make us think negatively about the commercial.
Actually the Americans and the UK both have this legislation already (Obama passed it last year). Canada *used to* have the same, but I'm sure it was quietly phased out in the last few years, much like the regulation on how many commercials per hour were allowed in Canada was also overturned last year (there was a small blurb in the newspapers about it, but no public announcement).
ReplyDeleteMy pet peeve is TV stations 'disguising' the end of their shows to keep you watching the commercials, only to discover nothing but the end credits...which are shrunk into a tiny, unreadable box anyway. Sometimes they will cut away MID WORD to accomplish this, and yes, I think it should be considered a 'deceptive trade practice'. I also think a limit on commercial time to stop them from editing out entire scenes of TV shows is a good idea (same reason: it's deliberately deceptive).
Volume of commercials? Sure, why not? If the CRTC is there to regulate, then they should regulate. Otherwise, disband them and let it be a free-for-all...
"We shouldn't have to man the remote so much!"
ReplyDeleteHah! Good thing you have Mommy guv to save you from this great hardship. Maybe next year she'll pass a law to move your chair to a better place in the room.