Streaming services in California will have to ensure that their commercials are no louder than the shows surrounding them.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill, SB 576, that bars the services “from transmitting the audio of commercial advertisements louder than the video content the advertisements accompany.” The legislation cleared the legislature with no opposition.
“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 statement.
The governor noted that federal law — the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act of 2010 — already prohibits TV stations and cable operators from featuring the loud commercials. The state bill extends the restrictions to streamers, who increasingly have been turning to advertising as part of their business models.
Sen. Thomas Umberg, one of the co-sponsors of the legislation, said in a statement, “This bill was inspired by baby Samantha and every exhausted parent who’s finally gotten a baby to sleep, only to have a blaring streaming ad undo all that hard work.”
Wisesize on October 8th, 2025 at 21:05 UTC »
So because California is doing it, it’s essentially a national change correct?
Node257 on October 8th, 2025 at 20:31 UTC »
This has been federal law for broadcast television for decades. Now one state manages to modernize it for the internet, and everybody thinks it's a silly liberal thing. Wierd.
TheComplimentarian on October 8th, 2025 at 20:28 UTC »
This is the stupid ass shit that is a huge part of good government.
It's not sexy. It's not a dogwhistle. It's not changing the world.
But this is the little stuff that government needs to make rules about, all the time. It just is. All the crap that makes your life worse for no reason? Good government can help.
Bad government, like we've had for a while, just lets private enterprise monetize it, and makes the whole world suck just a little more.