Rogers, CBC, say no need to regulate ad volumes, new standards under way

The CRTC’s proposal to regulate the volume of television commercials is not necessary when broadcasters are themselves taking the initiative to standardize ad volumes, the CBC and Rogers Communications Inc. say. “Rogers does not believe regulatory changes are required in order to ensure the effective control of the loudness of commercial messages relative to adjacent programming,” Pamela Dinsmore, vice-president of regulatory affairs for Rogers, wrote in a comment to the commission. Last February, the CRTC opened a public consultation on possible regulations to limit the volume of television commercials so that they are not louder than the programs they accompany. Broadcasters, members of the public and other stakeholders have since flooded the commission with more than 7,000 comments on the issue following the deadline for interventions this month. In 2009, the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), an organization that develops television standards, adopted a practice to establish and maintain a target loudness for digital television. The discussion in Canada involves whether those standards should be adopted here through regulation. In comments submitted to the CRTC for its consultation, the CBC and Rogers say they are already developing internal standards to limit advertising volumes. The broadcasters said they would agree to the regulation of loudness levels but that they do not believe formal CRTC rules are necessary when many broadcasters already regulate loudness on their own. “While we are rolling out a specific solution to address loudness variations throughout our network, we also understand that many programmers are doing the same thing, making audio levels more uniform before their signals even reach a distributor,” Dinsmore wrote. The CBC’s senior director of regulatory affairs, Bev Kirshenblatt, added in comments to the CRTC: “The Corporation submits that no regulatory changes are required at this time. The Commission should issue a policy that sets an expectation that all broadcasters take the necessary steps to control the loudness of commercial messages and supports the ATSC A/85 Recommended Practice as the minimum standard for loudness control for all Canadian broadcasters.” The CBC wrote that, in January 2010, it created an internal committee to review its loudness monitoring practices and determine what changes would be required to become fully compliant with ATSC standards across television, radio and digital platforms. The public broadcaster also said it is one of the few broadcasters in Canada to use Dolby LM100, one of the first-developed tools to control and monitor loudness. The CBC added that it is looking at the next generation of loudness metres that offer improved features such as the measurement of audio loudness in a multichannel environment, improved automation and better display of multichannel audio. The broadcaster said in its comments that the estimated cost to implement full loudness controls into their broadcasts will be approximately $2.2 million, not including additional costs anticipated for the training of new operational personnel. Rogers’ submission to the CRTC included a report conducted by Communications Research Centre Canada, which said that, compared to analog television, the audio signals of digital television have a lower noise floor and a wider dynamic audio range. The inconsistent use of digital television’s wider audio range leads to significant loudness variations, the report said. Rogers said in its comments that it has sought to address the issue of changing audio levels by “deploying an integrated hardware solution on its cable distribution network.” The company said it initially measures each program’s average loudness in accordance with the loudness measurement standards of the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) radiocommunication sector. Rogers said its hardware is capable of adjusting loudness levels to maintain a constant level on the channel. The company said it launched the process last year on its most-watched channels, and since then, it has been applied to approximately 120 linear television channels. It is the company’s hope that the solution will be applied to all of its remaining channels, Rogers said. But Media Access Canada (MAC), an organization working towards a system of fully accessible broadcast content by 2020, says CRTC regulations are necessary. MAC president Beverley Milligan wrote in comments to the commission that sudden increases in volume are part of advertising tactics to obtain the viewer’s attention. The sound is intensified through compression, she wrote. Milligan said that, without regulation, a broadcaster may choose to equalize the compression to reduce the volume, but an advertiser would be free to go to another source that will play the commercial at its desired sound level. She wrote that regulations are necessary to level the playing field. “If a broadcaster tries to equalize the compression, then the advertiser could very well take their business elsewhere because they want the volume increased,” Milligan said in an interview. “It’s just part of the strategy.” Milligan added that advertising volume increases are “highly offensive” to hearing-impaired viewers wearing hearing aids. A sudden increase in volume during commercials causes a shock to the hearing system, she said. Nina Grewal, the Conservative candidate for Fleetwood-Port Kells, B.C., said in an interview that the regulation of television commercials would improve the lives of seniors, many of whom wear hearing aids. “It’s commotion in the house,” Grewal said of loud advertisements. “Many older people do always complain. It will make the seniors’ lives a little more pollution-free.” Prior to the dissolution of Parliament, on March 26, 2011, Grewal, as an MP, put forward a private member’s bill that proposed to regulate the loudness of television advertisements. Milligan and Grewal noted that the U.S. recently passed legislation standardizing the volume of television broadcasts, and suggested that volume control is emerging as an issue of concern for viewers in Canada. dgrenier@thewirereport.ca

Rogers, CBC, say no need to regulate ad volumes, new standards under way

Broadcast | April 27, 2011

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