The Hollywood Reporter, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed State Bill 576, which will prohibit all streaming services (e.g. Disney+, Netflix, HBO Max, etc.) from airing commercials that play at a volume louder than the program subscribers are watching. These services will be asked to follow the FCC’s Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (aka CALM), which forced networks and cable channels to keep commercial volumes at a level consistent with whatever was being broadcast. (/Film’s Danielle Ryan previously explained this situation late last year.)
I can’t imagine anyone taking issue with this no-brainer piece of legislation; why this practice has been allowed is easily one of the most asked questions I get as an entertainment journalist. The only bummer is that it isn’t federal law (and good luck waiting on this current FCC doing anything in the consumer’s interest). All the same, one industry organization is disappointed in California’s actions.
