Relief from ear-splitting commercials on streamers with new California law

Streaming services are now required to turn the dial down on commercial advertisements that blare louder than providers’ content under legislation signed into law Monday by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law was inspired by baby Samantha — whose dad is Zach Keller, legislative director for Tom Umberg, the state senator who is the author of the bill — as well as exhausted parents across the state who have “finally gotten a baby to sleep, only to have a blaring streaming ad undo all that hard work,” Umberg said in a statement.

“We heard Californians loud and clear, and what’s clear is that they don’t want commercials at a volume any louder than the level at which they were previously enjoying a program,” Newsom said in a news release.

Senate Bill 576 builds on Congress’ Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, which requires broadcast, satellite and cable TV providers to ensure that commercials aren’t louder than the programming they are accompanying, but it does not include streaming services.

Under the CALM Act, advertisers must match the average loudness of the surrounding program, which is measured by a standardized algorithm and enforced by networks through automated checks, said Jura Liaukonyte, professor of marketing and applied economics at Cornell University.

The CALM Act was signed into law by President Obama in 2010 and is enforced by the Federal Communications Commission. Consumer complaints regarding loud commercials plummeted after the law took effect.

In recent years, however, the FCC has received thousands of complaints from frustrated viewers, officials said.

Many of those complaints reviewed by the commission led back to streaming services.

California’s new law is meant to ensure that, within the state, streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and Prime Video will be prohibited from playing commercials louder than the shows and films they offer on their platforms.

It is unclear how streaming services will be regulated by the statewide law. It does, however, require streaming services to follow the requirements of the CALM Act.

According to Netflix, the company is already in compliance with CALM Act requirements, so its operations in California won’t be affected.