The California state legislature has passed a new law that extends federal TV commercial volume rules to cover streaming.
On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 576 by Sen. Thomas Umberg (D-Santa Ana) to turn down the volume of commercials that rise to a level louder than the primary video content being watched.
When Congress passed the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act in 2010, the law only applied to broadcast television stations and cable operators. Gov. Newsom noted that the state’s new rules extend those limits now to streaming services, which have skyrocketed in popularity over the past decade.
“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. “By signing SB 576, California is dialing down this inconvenience across streaming platforms, which had previously not been subject to commercial volume regulations passed by Congress in 2010.”
“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,” said bill sponsor Sen. Umberg. “SB 576 brings some much-needed peace and quiet to California households by making sure streaming ads aren’t louder than the shows we actually want to watch.”
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.”
Sen. Thomas Umberg
Even though many critics say the current laws on the books are not being adequately enforced, opponents argued that the new rules will be even harder to enforce.
“Unlike in the broadcasting [and] cable network environment, where advertisers sell their ads directly to the networks, streaming ads come from several different sources and cannot necessarily or practically be controlled by streaming platforms,” Melissa Patack, the MPA’s vice president of state government affairs, testified last summer.
Earlier this year, the FCC issued a Notice of Public Rulemaking (NPRM), seeking public input on the effectiveness of the current rules. That NPRM acknowledged streaming but did not suggest that the rules be extended. Closing date for public comments was in May, the FCC has not taken any more action since.
The law, which covers television broadcast stations, cable operators, and other multichannel video programming distributors in addition to streaming services, was so simply written that we feel comfortable publishing it verbatim:
“Existing law regulates various businesses to, among other things, preserve and regulate competition, prohibit unfair trade practices, and regulate advertising.
“Existing federal law requires the Federal Communications Commission to develop regulations that require commercials to have the same average volume as the programs they accompany. The federal regulations apply to television broadcast stations, cable operators, and other multichannel video programming distributors.
“This bill would prohibit, on and after July 1, 2026, a video streaming service, as defined, that serves consumers in the state from transmitting the audio of commercial advertisements louder than the video content the advertisements accompany, as specified. The bill would state that it does not create a private right of action.”
