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(Yahoo) Hero Ever suspected commercials are a lot louder than the show you actually want to watch? Italy just proved it and is putting the hammer down on networks and advertisers   (news.yahoo.com) divider line
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13431 clicks; posted to Main » and Entertainment » on 11 Aug 2006 at 7:51 AM (16 years ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



169 Comments     (+0 »)


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Nick Nostril
2006-08-11 7:54:43 AM  
Who watches commercials? I thought they were just inidcation of when to start surfing/go for more beer.
 
letoofdune
2006-08-11 7:54:53 AM  
What's more annoying are commercials that have no sound at all, so I automatically look up from whatever I'm doing to see what's wrong with my TV.
 
eye yam we told did
2006-08-11 7:55:09 AM  
If I'm not mistaken, this has been known for years. I have a 1990's VCR that removes commercials using this principal.
 
Menjo_Bleeko
2006-08-11 7:55:14 AM  
Now if only USA network would make their audio feed as loud as everyone else's .. you have to turn it way up to watch a program on that channel, then when you change it you're deafened.
 
bakatare
2006-08-11 7:55:56 AM  
EH? WHAT?
 
dukefluke
2006-08-11 7:56:43 AM  
Suspected? No. Known for a fact? For years.
 
Cloptimus
2006-08-11 7:56:53 AM  
Oh noes the Little Giant Ladder system is too loud. So is the Grease Bullet for that matter.
 
Two Dogs Farking [TotalFark]
2006-08-11 7:57:10 AM  
I blame Berlusconi. For everything that's bad in Italy.

/seriously
 
fullerton
2006-08-11 7:57:10 AM  
I make commercials for a living, and I definitely do NOT make them extra loud.
 
tehcaptainobvious
2006-08-11 7:57:19 AM  
Who watches USA? Anyway these advertisers piss me off, sometimes it's so annoying that I use the mute button.
 
blacksun
2006-08-11 7:57:56 AM  
I've gotten into the habit of hitting mute when commercials come on.
 
the oob
2006-08-11 8:00:50 AM  
fullerton: I make commercials for a living

... so I'm really getting a kick out of these replies
 
zippythechimp
2006-08-11 8:02:26 AM  
Commercials mean turn the channel.
 
tsunami2001
2006-08-11 8:03:15 AM  
And another thing, how come on dvd movies, the music and special effects are way louder than the voices?
 
Fat Horny Black and Joe
2006-08-11 8:03:24 AM  
I rarely watch live TV any more. I just fast forward through them.
 
rp.
2006-08-11 8:05:36 AM  
I work for determining that commercials are louder than the shows.

So I'm really getting a kick out of these replies.
 
The Man From Mars
2006-08-11 8:05:44 AM  
Not as obvious as you'd think

Audio compression technology is often used to enhance the volume of the commercials. It has now become common practice for advertisement producers to boost the sound level of quieter passages so there is more sound power in the range where the ear is sensitive. Because most TV programs do not use audio compression, the result is that commercials are often perceived as louder. In actual decibel range, there is no measurable difference between the programs and the commercials. However, the technique of audio compression will essentially boost the sound.
 
All Apologies
2006-08-11 8:06:40 AM  
Welcome to 15 years ago. Screw TV.
 
StrikitRich
2006-08-11 8:07:31 AM  
It's not necessarily the TV stations turning up the volume, when the commercials are produced, they record them at high levels to have a built in high volume.
 
bakatare
2006-08-11 8:07:34 AM  
tsunami2001: And another thing, how come on dvd movies, the music and special effects are way louder than the voices?


Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear what you were saying over the sound of clicking keyboard keys. Could you turn off the surround sound and switch to mono TV speakers and retype that?
 
at80eighty
2006-08-11 8:11:32 AM  
All Apologies

[image from img214.imageshack.us too old to be available]

Is this you?
 
spacechicken170am
2006-08-11 8:12:06 AM  
God that guy who does the oxy clean commercials is the loudest guy on TV. I just want to say hey i'll buy your oxy clean if you just shut the fark up.


[image from lions-share-ent.com too old to be available]


/magic bullet guy sucks too
/I could beat you to death IN ONLY NINE SECONDS!!11!!
 
prjindigo
2006-08-11 8:12:16 AM  
What,it took a dumbass Italian twenty farking years to figure this out?

I had it in 1983 watching MTV for the first time!
 
techmom
2006-08-11 8:12:28 AM  
jakesteramalamajama

Try the decaf.
 
All Apologies
2006-08-11 8:15:12 AM  
at80eighty

I own a TV, I just watch movies on it though.
 
Outshined
2006-08-11 8:16:38 AM  
[image from a423.g.akamai.net too old to be available]

'nuff said
 
theGOOCH
2006-08-11 8:18:07 AM  
I complain about this all the time, sometimes its ear shattering
 
SubLurker
2006-08-11 8:22:48 AM  
Mother tells me that as an infant I was most attentive to the tv during the commercials. When I was a child I wanted to create ads.

A lifetime of consumerism has left me a bitter, cynical, pop-zombie whose greatest wish is to somehow be able to: drink my Mountain Dew without helping Pepsico, play my Playstation without bowing at the altar of Sony, and get to work without driving my Toyota (not to mention the too many stops at Shells and Texacos, Exxons and Valeros, BPs and ... )

And from what I've read ( or perhaps invented to help keep me feeling sane ), advertising has an abysmally poor success rate.

What price our minds?


/where's my oscar?
//i'll stfu now so I can get to the store - payday ya know
/// O B E Y
 
UNC_Samurai
2006-08-11 8:23:06 AM  
Is it bad when a libertarian favors a little government regulation to force commercials to not be louder than the programs? I'm torn with an ethical dilemma, and I actually like the Italian government's idea.

\have also noticed the speech audio channel on many DVDs is softer than other audio tracks
 
at80eighty
2006-08-11 8:23:59 AM  
All Apologies

i hope you know i was just ribbing :-)
 
leftymetal
2006-08-11 8:24:47 AM  
I second that, Outshined.

/Menjo, I agree!
//SciFi offends similarly - Battlestar Galactica is whisper quiet compared to other channels
///I'm a geek
 
BBQNurse
2006-08-11 8:27:18 AM  
Sci-Fi Channel is the WORST! I mute every commercial break. They broadcast the shows at a lower level so you need to turn it up to understand what they're saying. Then when a spot break shows up *BAM* It goes up three fold. I'm wondering if I should send a note to their sponsors telling them that their ads aren't being paid any attention to because we mute them.
 
ReverendJasen
2006-08-11 8:30:51 AM  
The only channel I notice this on is Sci-Fi. I skip between Discovery, Science channel, and Adult swim (cartoon network), and on the sci-fi channel the difference between programming and commericals is farking huge.
I like to watch stargate, but it really freaking pisses me off. If I turn the TV up loud enough to hear my show, the commercials are ear-shattering. If I turn it down low enough that the commercials are a comfortable range, I can't hear the shows.
It's so bad on that channel, I've pretty much stopped watching it. I just download the new Stargate episodes off bittorrent instead.
fark you Sci-fi.
 
radiobiz
2006-08-11 8:31:28 AM  
Sci-Fi is bad, so is Spike. Annoys the crap out of me. I know why they do it, hell I used to do it sometimes in my radio commercials but it's annoying so I stopped, unless some car dealer goes nuts and tells me to.
 
BeerBear
2006-08-11 8:31:57 AM  
Never have problems with commercials being loud, guess being deaf is good for that :)
 
SideSlide
2006-08-11 8:32:06 AM  
HEAD ON! APPLY DIRECTLY TO FOREHEAD!
HEAD ON! APPLY DIRECTLY TO FOREHEAD!
HEAD ON! APPLY DIRECTLY TO FOREHEAD!
 
10.0.0.1 [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2006-08-11 8:35:50 AM  
I'm wondering if I should send a note to their sponsors telling them that their ads aren't being paid any attention to because we mute them.

Like they give a shiat.
 
ReverendJasen
2006-08-11 8:36:21 AM  
You should tell the nutty car dealer that he's actually losing customers because they change the channel when they hear is his annoying, loud-ass commercial.
 
Adman12
2006-08-11 8:36:33 AM  
The "volume" trick has been common knowledge since the dawn of television. I recall reading an Al Jaffee cartoon about it in Mad Magazine as a kid in the '70s (Al the brilliant futurist anticipated the remote "mute" button on that one), and I think even it was a reprint from the '60s.

I'll see if I can find the comic online.
 
ltdanman44
2006-08-11 8:38:21 AM  
....cuz some farkers believe anything they hear.
 
Wulfhardt
2006-08-11 8:38:53 AM  
I don't watch enough TV to really give a shiat anymore. If the boob tube is on, it's usually to watch maybe one or two shows I enjoy or to pop a DVD in. Meanwhile, there is a "mute" button on the remote for a reason...
 
archerjoe
2006-08-11 8:40:16 AM  
On the rare occasions when I do watch live TV such as football, commercials get the mute button treatment. And really, how many stupid commercials for prescription strength acid reflux do I need to see?

Same goes for radio. The spots for the local used car lots are the worst. Don't have XM in my vehicle yet but it will be soon.
 
dogfather_jr
2006-08-11 8:42:01 AM  
That's crazy. It's Italian television crazy.
 
slackster23
2006-08-11 8:42:08 AM  
not only do I make commercials, I put them on the air (err cable) and I get all kinds of requests to make them louder. we compress the hell out of them too so the dynamic range is like nil. we gotta keep em in specs though or qa comes down on us
 
ReverendJasen
2006-08-11 8:42:09 AM  
Considering who the sponsers are on Sci-fi, I agree. They're barely a step below scammers and spammers. I can probably name them all...

free credit reports.com
various lose weight fast, cortisol
focus factor
girls gone wild
valtrex
hair club for men
various phone sex lines
john farking basedow's workout video
bowflex
enzyte (+ various penile disfunction drugs)
...and that's about it.

Really pretty funny the target audience they're going for. Fat, bald, sex-obsessed nerds who can't get it up.
 
caluml
2006-08-11 8:43:44 AM  
UK - Channel 5. Not that I watch that purile drivel though. Mainly dodgy US soaps, and "gameshows".

Cricket @ 7.15pm though.
 
Katius
2006-08-11 8:44:15 AM  
HEAD ON, APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD
HEAD ON, APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD
HEAD ON, APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD
 
You'dnotcare
2006-08-11 8:44:42 AM  
All I know is that Totino's Supreme Pizza Rolls are perhaps the greatest snack food known to man.

Didn't RTFA.
But I did LATFA. So colorful.
 
towatchoverme
2006-08-11 8:45:16 AM  
Why do the Itallians hate freedom?
 
Crocodile
2006-08-11 8:45:23 AM  
On my cable, the worst offender is FX. I can barely hear the goddam dialogue in the movie, then the ads come on and about blow my eardrums.

I'd rather they do something about THIS instead of worrying about some boobies and cuss words.
 
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