see http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=135403 (full text of CNews article copied below).
What could possibly be the rationale behind this? It can't be the advertisers, who surely don't want their viewers turning off the sound or fast-forwarding through commercials and associating such offense with their products. The networks maybe? or the stations themselves? Probably not, since they make a living delivering hopefully attentive viewers to their advertisers. It can only be the cable companies, who no doubt make a fair share of profit from PVR rentals.
Consequently, and since that is the currently prescribed practice by the CRTC, I just called Rogers Cable at 1-888-764-3771 to register a complaint about the offensively louder volume of commercial breaks during a specific show. At first the agent was all sugar and spice, polite and all. When I started talking about USA considering legislation and the CRTC conducting hearings about this PITA practice, and I asked if I should continue calling everytime I noticed it, the veneer came off and she said "no, that's ok, I am forwarding this right away to the escalation department and you will get a call back when resolved, within 24-48 hours." Evidently I'm not the first educated caller she's dealt with. Meanwhile, I'm putting their number on my speed dial. >:)
I'm also looking forward to how the CRTC hearings are going to play out with industry and then with the government. I get the impression that the commission is slowly imploding, and I got to admit I kinda enjoy watching history being made.
TV regulator hears complaints about loud ads
By ALTHIA RAJ, Parliamentary Bureau
OTTAWA — The federal television regulator is looking at ways it can stop Canadians from going deaf by listening to loud ads during their favourite TV programs.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has received hundreds of complaints from the public who are outraged they need to reach for the remote control each time television advertisements appear in order to reduce their seemingly louder volume.
“It is an issue that we are cognizant of and not indifferent to,” a CRTC official told QMI Agency.
An announcement isn’t ready yet but “stay tuned,” the official added.
The Consumers’ Association of Canada’s Bruce Cran called it a “chronic complaint” his group receives.
“The usual thing we get is that (the TV ad) is a lot louder than the show. Whether that’s true or not, the perception certainly is that it is louder,” he said. “It is something that obviously bothers a lot of people.”
U.S President Barack Obama recently signed into law the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM) which instructs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the CRTC’s American counterpart, to ensure commercials are only as loud as the program during which they air.
The CRTC currently recommends Canadians tell their TV service provider when they notice louder television ads by noting the date, time, channel and program or commercial they are watching.
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