FCC Regulations and Programs. Congress passes legislation to curb high-decibel TV commercials.WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2011 -- A station is not obligated to notify opposing candidates when a “use” is made but, as described below, it must document all uses in its political files, which are now part of the station’s online public inspection file. It will be regulated with different check systems, depending on a station's size. The FCC’s rules and policies are fairly complicated when it comes to political broadcasting, and the answers to many questions are highly dependent on the specific facts at hand.Central to understanding and complying with the political rules is the concept of a candidate’s “use” of a broadcast station. Come December 2012, when the CALM Act takes effect, those commercials that blare at a much louder volume than the shows will be history. Alex Voss and Paul Porter discuss why network commercials no longer have any time restrictions. There is NO limit set by the FCC on the number of minutes of commercial announcements in regular TV programming. After that time, they can apply to renew that exemption for another year. Members of the commission praised the act for addressing a problem that had plagued consumers for decades. We’ll look at each of those areas below but we highly encourage stations with questions to contact their communications counsel. On Network TV An average hour of monitored prime time US network TV programming in Q109 contained 10 minutes, 35 seconds (10:35) of in-show brand appearances and 13:54 of network commercial messages, according to branded entertainment data from TNS Media … This certification must be provided to the broadcast station when the time is purchased. These limits were imposed pursuant to the Children's Television Act of 1990, which restricted the amount of commercial matter that both television broadcasters and cable operators can air on … Many televisions and home theater systems have features to control loudness, such as automatic gain control, audio compression, or audio limiters, that can be turned on to provide a more consistent volume level across programs and commercials. The original CALM act signed last December gave the FCC the power to grant a one-year exemption to those stations that show they would incur "financial hardship" if forced to comply with these standards. The CALM Act requires stations to buy equipment that regulates these sound levels, ensuring the mean volume of the advertisements is no louder than that of the programming. Do television commercial advertisements sometimes seem louder than the shows they accompany? Such uses would obligate the station to give equal amounts of free time to all opposing candidates.Equal time claims can also become a serious issue in the final days before an election, when some stations may need to monitor their available commercial inventory closely to ensure that they are able to accommodate equal time demands from candidates.Perhaps the most troublesome question for many stations is the question of the rate that may be charged for political advertising. Such uses would obligate the station to give equal amounts of free time to all opposing candidates. Television ads must also display a clearly identifiable image of the candidate.BCRA also requires that federal candidates, or their authorized committees, provide a broadcast station with a written certification stating whether or not the advertisement refers to another candidate for the same office. If you are experiencing spikes in volume with both programming and commercials, you may be able to change the settings on your television or home theater system to help stabilize overall loudness. FCC rules for loud TV commercials are based on the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act. The legislation directed the FCC to establish regulations requiring TV stations, cable operators, satellite TV providers or other multichannel video program distributors (MVPDs) to follow the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s (ATSC) A/85 Recommended Practice (ATSC A/85 RP) to transmit commercial advertisements. For those viewers who don't want to wait that long to enjoy a peaceful TV experience, Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Temporary agreements for shared news gathering efforts related to news coverage of the novel coronavirus pandemic should not need to be placed in stations’ online public inspection files. Today the Federal Communications Commission unanimously approved new rules that require cable and broadcast stations to play commercials at the same volume as the TV shows they break into. In any event, in view of the clear requirement that federal candidates be afforded “reasonable access,” stations should do some advanced planning about the amount of time likely to be required to reasonably accommodate political advertising. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clybourn said without this protection, consumers had "endured what sometimes were frightening decibel levels that resulted in considerable alarm, anger and spilled popcorn" for years. If it does refer to another candidate, the certification must state that the ad will comply with the “stand by your ad” announcement requirements as described above. The Television Branch of the Video Services Division licenses and regulates both commercial and noncommercial broadcast UHF and VHF television stations. The Television Branch of the Video Services Division licenses and regulates both commercial and noncommercial broadcast UHF and VHF television stations. A: Cable operators can transmit no more than 10.5 minutes of commercial matter per hour during children's programming on weekends, and no more than 12 minutes of commercial matter per hour on weekdays.