CALIFORNIA STATE – That infuriating moment when a quiet show is interrupted by a commercial that suddenly blasts through the room may finally be fading in California.
A new state law that took effect July 1 prohibits video-streaming services from playing commercials louder than the shows, movies, or other video content they interrupt.
The measure, Senate Bill 576, applies to streaming platforms serving California consumers and requires them to follow the same commercial-loudness standards long used for broadcast and cable television.
The practical target is the jarring volume jump that can send viewers scrambling for the remote during ad breaks on ad-supported streaming services. California lawmakers said the gap existed because the federal Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation, or CALM, Act had regulated traditional television and cable ads since 2010, but did not cover streaming platforms.
The new law does not name individual services, but it covers companies that deliver video programming directly to viewers through internet protocol and include commercials. Broadcast stations, cable operators, and ad-free services are excluded because they are either covered by other rules or do not run advertisements.
State Sen. Tom Umberg, who authored the bill, said it was inspired by a staff member whose infant daughter was awakened by a blaring streaming commercial. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the legislation last October, saying Californians should not have to endure ads that are louder than the program they were watching.
The penalties could add up
SB 576 does not create a special fine written directly into the law, and it specifically blocks private lawsuits by individual viewers. But violations could still carry serious financial consequences through California’s broader unfair-competition law.
Under that law, a business found to have engaged in an unlawful business practice can face civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation in an action brought by the Attorney General or other authorized public prosecutors. Courts can consider the seriousness, persistence, length, and willfulness of the conduct when determining penalties — meaning repeated noncompliance could become expensive quickly.
It’s possible, for example, that a company could be charged $2,500 for each time it runs a too-loud ad, or the same penalty could be applied to a streaming service. With many ads running hundreds of times over multiple weeks, a judge could potentially impose six-figure fines.
In reality, it’s the fear of those fines–and other regulatory actions–that often changes companies’ behavior. Companies are rarely fined under the broader CALM act, but because the FTC often intervenes and corrects the issue, having the law on the books prevents overly-loud broadcast commercials from being released.
For viewers, the change should be simple: commercials on streaming platforms are now supposed to sound no louder, on average, than the show or movie they accompany. For the companies delivering those ads, the era of treating the commercial break like an audio ambush is officially over.
