Lowering the tone - BCAP reviews the rule on the sound levels of TV ads
23 May 2007
On Friday 25 May, BCAP launched a public consultation on its proposed new rule on sound levels in TV advertisements. The proposed rule is intended to reduce the problem of TV ads seeming much louder than surrounding programme material. You can learn more about the proposed rule and respond to the consultation through the CAP website. Please note that this consultation has now closed.
In a nutshell
In summary, BCAP’s proposed new sound levels rule is intended to:
• Provide more certainty for broadcasters in their compliance with the rule by redressing the ambiguity in the existing guidance;
• Minimise the annoyance that can be caused to audiences by television advertisements either exceeding an upper sound limit or being generally perceived as too loud;
• Ensure a level playing field across all ads in the same commercial break so that no single ad is significantly louder than another.
Greater clarity
BCAP has developed the proposed rule, having pre-consulted broadcasters and engineers at Ofcom, after concerns that the existing rule does not give broadcasters adequate technical guidance on how to ensure that “advertisements must not be excessively noisy or strident”. The proposed wording is intended to give broadcasters clearer technical guidance to help them comply with the rule and, consequently, better protect audiences and minimise the annoyance that can be caused by loud ads.
In drafting the proposed rule, BCAP has drawn on a new audio-measurement algorithm, created by the International Telecommunications Union’s Radiocommunications bureau (ITU-R). The algorithm should help broadcasters to better marry the sound levels of ads to the loudness profiles of their channels.
BCAP’s listening
Our public consultation on the proposed new sound levels rule was launched on 25 May; you can access the consultation document at the link below. In addition to including the proposed rule, the document contains a questions-and-answers section to help you understand the considerations behind the rule’s creation and wider significant factors. You could either opt to answer the five consultation questions or provide your comments on the rule by responding to BCAP in the ways explained in the document’s annex. The consultation will close on 3 August; so be sure to make your voice heard.
Visit the BCAP Consultation on sound levels of television advertisements page on this website.