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While all-caps commercial appeals would go down faster than an army airship over Pattani, the television equivalent – running commercials at a louder volume – is alive and well, a practice which has drawn the attention of telecom regulators.
Under a new rule which took effect yesterday, digital television channels must broadcast their shows and commercials at the same volume level, according to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.
The commission’s Thakorn Tanthasit said the move was necessary because it was becoming a common practice on several channels and was unfair and annoying.
Broadcasting commercials at a higher volume is a tried-and-tested tactic, from prime-time television programming to those running in movie theaters before films. Two years ago the United States began similar regulation through the so-called Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation act, which like much legislation was likely supported for having a really sweet acronym.
For some years commercials on the BTS Skytrain system ran at an inescapable and annoying volume level before they were dialed down to a less irritating level.
At the beginning of this year the NBTC contacted digital TV operators about the matter, giving them two months to prepare for the implementation.
Since March 1st all shows and commercials on must broadcast at -1 dB, according to state media.
Photo: Family O’Abe
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