Are ads louder than TV shows?
Media watchdog investigates a question we've all asked many times before.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
It’s a question that has vexed viewers for years: are TV ads and promos louder than the programmes they interrupt?
It sure feels like they are. But we may now have evidence that no, they are not.
Media watchdog the Australian Communications and Media Authority has investigated a complaint surrounding just that.
The ads concerned were found in a February episode of Weekend Today, when a viewer complained: “During morning shows and A Current Affair, News at 6, etc, they deliberately increase audio to uncomfortable levels for advertising and their program promotions, simply because they know there is no moderation control by the governing bodies. This is not acceptable and please don’t bang on about averaging algorithms coming into play.”
But networks must comply with the requirements of Free TV’s Operational Practice Notes 48 (Audio Levels and Loudness) and 59 (Measurement and Management of Loudness in Soundtracks for Television Broadcasting),
These aim to prevent ‘excessively noisy or strident content’ and sets out guidelines for measuring and matching the loudness of programs, and advertisements, to avoid excessive loudness contrasts.
Advertisers or agencies submit commercials to Free TV’s Commercials Advice (CAD) for review prior to the advertisement being sent to the broadcaster. A production company cannot proceed with a CAD review unless they have confirmed (by ticking a box) that their commercial is compliant with both OP 48 and OP 59.
All content that is processed, through Nine’s National Playout Centre also pass through two phases that act as safety checks to ensure sound compliance. Its ingest process includes passing all commercials through an audio processor that ensures the audio loudness is compliant with OP 48.
ACMA ultimately ruled that Nine did not breach the Code.
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19 Responses
I just assumed it was because ads are often/usually filled with attention-grabbing voice over/music/sound effects and the TV program might not be filled with such a full audio assault throughout.
my mum did a very technical research into this 40 years ago. She noticed that 3 year old me would not pay much attention when a TV show was on but as soon as the ads came on I would turn to face the TV for the ads. Then go back to playing Legos when the ads finished. You can’t argue with science like that.
I don’t care what fancy excuse or technical bs they throw at us…I hear loud…and I am half deaf….I have to keep the remote handy for fear of disturbing the neighbors….I am a night owl….
No one is going to disagree with the advertisers….they keep the boat afloat.
You tell em Maev
Ads? What ads?
It’s very technical. The audio waveforms of compressed audio are consistently higher than uncompressed audio. It’s the same decibel level but compressed audio sounds louder because the waveforms become exaggerated after compression. Advertisers have been using this method for many years. The ad breaks seem to sound louder than the program, even though the decibel level is the same. Even though advertisers are trying to gain our attention, it has a detrimental effect too for advertisers because people will tend to mute the audio during ad breaks.
I am one viewer that mutes the ad breaks.
I don’t know how true it is, but I heard, like 20 years ago, that they compressed the audio in the commercials a lot, which makes it seem louder and in your face. Might be one of those old tales with no truth in it, but that was the story going round at the time.
The volume is the same between shows and ads. What is different is the ‘compression’ of sound. Volume is regulated. Compression is not regulated. Using different levels of compression on ads gives them a sense of more ‘attack”. It makes them seem louder when all that is actually changing is the difference in the distinction between the quietest and loudest sounds in the ad. Advertisers utilise different levels of compression because they want you to wake up when the ads appear!
Helpful feedback thanks!
My issue is more about how many darn adds we have now. Every five minutes or so we have five minutes of adds. Its crazy. I am like others on here and mute the adds or just channel surf while they are on. Overall I just don’t watch as much TV as I used to.
I can’t provide a link/reference – (because it was many years ago) – but I remember reading about a similar study where it was found that while volume was not significantly higher (or lower) during commercial breaks, but that the *frequency* of the audio track was often deliberately different – (from memory, an increase in frequency) – so that you notice the adverts because the ears perceive the incoming audio in a different way. You just *notice* the difference.
My view has always been that ads / promos have “attack” in the voice, hence they appear louder. If every presenter did (and Ben Fordham, Scott Cam, Grant Denyer amongst those who are closest) we would probably feel similar. Weekend Today presenters I doubt are guilty of this.
Just use the mute when commercials appear; thats what I do anyway.
They need to be doing these checks for the FTA streaming platforms as well.
I agree, 9Now (and 10 play sometimes) are terrible with the volume level on some adds… I usually just mute the add breaks now.
Perhaps the ads are being played at the loudest allowable level and TV shows are intentionally lower.
The ads seem louder because they use more compression in the audio than is used for the programme material.
This perceived problem, exists because advertisements are made, with talk and music to ‘fill’ the viewers attention to the maximum allowed level. If they are played right at the quiet time of a program, they are obviously louder at that moment. The problem is that op 48 needs to be changed so the ‘maximum’ allowed level is only the ‘average’ of the program.— Problem solved !