Bill Text: CA AJR43 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Television: audio loudness.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-09-14 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 165, Statutes of 2010. [AJR43 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AJR43-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: AJR 43	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  165
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 14, 2010
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 14, 2010
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 30, 2010
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 1, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Hill

                        JUNE 7, 2010

   Relative to television audio loudness.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 43, Hill. Television: audio loudness.
   This measure would urge the Congress and President of the United
States to enact legislation to establish a standard that broadcasters
and others can use to minimize the "audio loudness differential" in
television.



   WHEREAS, Every year, television networks receive thousands of
complaints from viewers bothered by commercials that seem to be
getting louder and louder; and
   WHEREAS, A television program has a mix of audio levels. There are
loud and soft parts to build the dramatic effect and the peak levels
of commercials are no higher than the peak levels of program
content; and
   WHEREAS, To grab the consumer's attention, many advertisements use
the highest decibel level of a television show as the baseline for a
commercial's average loudness, just enough to remain within legal
limits. Thus, the entire commercial is loud, including the voices,
the music, and the sound effects; and
   WHEREAS, In addition to making their commercials as loud as the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) legally allows them,
marketers also use current technology to make commercials sound even
louder than they are, like packing more sound energy into the
midrange frequencies that the human ear is most sensitive to; and
   WHEREAS, "Dynamic range compression," is a tool used by sound
engineers that amplifies the softest sounds. This decreases the
difference in volume between the biggest and smallest waves.
Compressed sound bombards the ear with more energy over a given
period of time with an audio signal that sounds flatter but louder;
and
   WHEREAS, The problem is exacerbated by the mandated switch to
digital television, because it produces a greater range of sound than
analog television; and
   WHEREAS, The FCC has been aware of excessively loud commercial
advertisements on television and radio since at least 1954; and
   WHEREAS, The FCC has chosen to not regulate the volume of
television commercials. However, broadcasters are required to have
equipment that limits the peak power they can use to send out their
audio and video signals. This means that the loudest television
commercial should never be any louder than the loudest part of any
television program; and
   WHEREAS, Other countries, including Australia, Brazil, France,
Israel, Russia, and the United Kingdom, have passed legislation or
instituted regulations concerning the volume of commercials; and
   WHEREAS, Television broadcasters and multichannel video
programming distributors in the United States are aware of the
problem, and an industry standards-setting body, the Advanced
Television Systems Committee (ATSC), has developed the technical
standards necessary to control variations in commercial loudness.
ATSC's membership approved the ATSC Recommended Practice: Techniques
for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital
Television on November 4, 2009; and
   WHEREAS, In an effort to address this concern and have the
industry adopt standards that would decrease loudness, H.R. 1084,
introduced by California Representative Anna Eshoo, passed out of the
House of Representatives on December 15, 2009; and
   WHEREAS, H.R. 1084, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness
Mitigation Act, directs the FCC to prescribe a regulation prohibiting
advertisements accompanying video programming from: (1) being
excessively noisy or strident; (2) having modulation levels
substantially higher than the accompanying program; and (3) having an
average maximum loudness substantially higher than that of the
accompanying program; and
   WHEREAS, H.R. 1084 requires the FCC to adopt those recommendations
as regulations within a year of it being adopted; and
   WHEREAS, A similar measure, S. 2847, has been introduced by Rhode
Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the Congress and the
President of the United States to enact legislation to establish a
standard that broadcasters and others can use to minimize the "audio
loudness differential" in television that is bothersome to many
people; and be it further
   Resolved, That Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this
resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States,
to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader
of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California
in the Congress of the United States.