Since 2008, the Federal Communications Commission has received nearly 6,000 complaints about excessively loud TV commercials. But on Wednesday, the FCC adopted rules to enforce the 2010 Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, requiring that TV ads have the same average volume as the programs they accompany.
Oprah Winfrey's new cable network is commanding some of the highest ad prices on cable, and it justified those rates with its heavily watched debut. Now, OWN will have to prove it can maintain its viewership levels throughout the year.
Here's a nice surprise for television advertisers: Digital video recorders are actually increasing, not decreasing, the number of viewers who are watching the commercials. Nearly half of the DVR owners in the critical 18- to 49-year-old age group watch the commercials, which boosts ratings, Nielsen says.
