Sick of loud ads on Netflix? A proposed California law would turn down the volume

By Ryan Sabalow CalMatters Ever been streaming a show or a movie and been jolted out of your entertainment reverie by an ad so loud it felt like it rattled the windows If California s lawmakers have their way those blaring commercials on streaming platforms might soon have the volume turned down Related Articles After a decade of law enforcement using drones in the Bay Area Alameda County embraces a next-gen instrument Olson Artificial intelligence s mental wellness costs are adding up Samsung is looking into more AI devices potentially including earrings and necklaces Tesla plans robotaxi expansion to Bay Area in a month or two South Bay schools shape AI policies to catch up to tech-savvy students A bill sailing through the Legislature with bipartisan sponsorship would prohibit online streaming services like Netflix and Hulu from cranking up the volume during commercials The proposal would make the platforms comply with the same standards as a -year-old federal law that limits how loud traditional television and cable broadcasters can make their advertisements Senate Bill hasn t been a very tough sell for its author Democratic Sen Tom Umberg of Santa Ana despite opposition from California s influential entertainment industry This is the largest part popular bill I ve introduced this year Umberg revealed in an interview with CalMatters Matter in point Every senator who was present that day voted for the bill when Umberg brought it to the Senate floor in late May Umberg appealed to their annoyance I m guessing that all of you have been annoyed when you re streaming television and a commercial comes on and it is exponentially louder than the other shows Umberg stated his colleagues He glanced around the chamber You see heads nodding aye President Barack Obama signed the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation CALM Act in which gave the Federal Communications Commission authority to issue rules ensuring that the average volume of TV commercials does not exceed the volume of the programs they accompany according to the bill s analysis It notes that streaming services were still nascent at the time Members of Congress have since tried to add streaming platforms to the law but two federal bills didn t get hearings Umberg s bill aims to make streaming services in California follow the same rules despite Congress not yet taking action But would it be legal for California to do so UC Berkeley Law Professor Tejas Narechania notified CalMatters that federal courts have ruled that the California Legislature could enact consumer protections aimed at California residents even if they affected out-of-state content providers Narechania cited a th U S Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in favor of a California deaf-rights organization that sued CNN for violating state law by failing to put closed captioning on videos it had on its website Umberg Don t wake the baby While a substantial amount of act comes to lawmakers through lobbyists pitching their proposals this one came to Umberg from a baby Well the baby s parents anyway He reported his legislative director Zach Keller has an infant daughter named Samantha Rose The baby had certainly settled down to sleep and her parents in turn settled down to relax and watch a show when an ad came on so loud it woke the baby Her father at the behest of the baby s mother brought a bill idea to me Umberg noted I thought That s a good bill idea so we introduced it The plight of parents with sleeping babies hasn t been enough to ward off opposition to the bill from California s entertainment industry including the Motion Picture Association of America It has donated at least to lawmakers since according to the CalMatters Digital Democracy database Opponents including the Streaming Innovation Alliance argue that the proposal would be demanding for streaming services to implement Streaming utility ads don t work the same way as commercials at cable and television networks Melissa Patack a representative for the Motion Picture Association described the Assembly s Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee last month When you choose a plan on your streaming utility you re veritably calling up a digital file and advertising is paired up with that in real time she explained The streaming platform may not be able to control the loudness of a particular ad Patack added that the streaming industry has done a critical amount of work already to address loudness issues and develop best practices to match the loudness of ads with initiatives Umberg isn t buying it I have a great deal of faith in the entertainment industry in the instrument that they both now use and are growing that if they can make ads louder they can make them less loud he mentioned Umberg s bill now moves to the Assembly floor where Umberg is again likely to appeal to lawmakers desire for streamers not to wake up more babies such as Samantha Rose