"Keller's husband is Zach Keller, legislative director for Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana). Last year, when the pair became new - and newly exhausted - parents, their reprieve was watching a TV show on a streaming service while their daughter napped. Even though the TV and the baby were in separate rooms, a random commercial would "blare so loudly that it would startle [the baby] and wake her up," Keller told The Times."
"Keller said her husband was long aware of the issue, but it had now degraded the quality of their lives to the point that he was spurred to act. Keller's boss, Umberg, authored Senate Bill 576 to lower the volume on commercial advertisements, which passed the Legislature and now awaits the governor's signature. If approved, the legislation would prohibit streaming services including Hulu, Netflix and Prime Video from playing commercials louder than the shows and films they offer on their platforms."
"In short, they can't. At least not directly. But regulators can notice when there is a pattern of consumer complaints and then investigate further for possible enforcement. That's the approach the Federal Communications Commission has taken with laws regulating advertising volume already on the books. The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act 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."
Richael Keller experienced streaming commercials so loud they repeatedly startled and woke her newborn. Her husband, Zach Keller, works as legislative director for Sen. Tom Umberg, who authored Senate Bill 576 to limit commercial volume on streaming platforms. The bill passed the California Legislature and awaits Gov. Newsom's signature by Oct. 12. If signed, the law would prohibit services like Hulu, Netflix and Prime Video from playing commercials louder than their shows and films. Regulators generally cannot directly control platform ad volume, but they can investigate patterns of consumer complaints, similar to the FCC's approach under the CALM Act.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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