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Streaming has become an integrated part of our lives. In the past year, because of the pandemic, many of us have heavily relied on streaming services for our entertainment.

There are many different popular streaming sites, with Hulu being among them. But if you’ve ever felt like the commercials coming in on Hulu are somehow louder in volume, then you are not alone.

Photo: Unsplash/Tech Daily

In fact, many subscribers seem to agree that the Hulu commercials come on two, even three times louder than the regular program. But why is that?

The reason for the commercials being so loud is simple: Advertisers want to get our attention. Naturally, many TV viewers can find this extremely annoying as it means having to search for the remote in order to switch back and forth between volumes.

While it can be annoying, there is actually a law that has been put in place to regulate the volume of TV ads. Passed back in 2010, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act was introduced to make it illegal for any commercial to exceed the average volume of the channel on which it airs.

Photo: Piqsels

As the FCC stated, this would keep TV stations “from boosting the average volume of commercials to levels beyond the programs they accompany.”

Unfortunately, advertisers soon figured out a loophole in order get around the CALM Act. They do this by making only certain parts of the commercial louder so they can still grab your attention, but then they balance it out with softer moments of volume in order to comply with the rules. As a result, advertisers will often make the first few seconds of the commercial the same volume as the TV program but then increase the volume minutes later in order to give the impression that they have the same volume.

Photo: Pixabay/ADMC

If you are finding it annoying to constantly have the commercials on Hulu blasting in your face then there is something more that you can do besides just hitting mute. For a start, you can make a complaint to Hulu about volume inconsistencies, as the website has shared that their “product teams are continuously working to improve volume inconsistencies across the Hulu streaming library,” which have been brought to their attention by complaints coming into their chat team.

Furthermore, the FCC’s website has also suggested to viewers that they try and change the settings of their TV in order to stabilize the volume levels overall. Also, if you want to complain to the FCC directly, you can visit fcc.gov and let them know about the problem as it relies on public complaints to help monitor that advertisers are complying with the CALM Act’s guidelines.

Photo: Piqsels

Of course, if you file a complaint, there is certain information you are expected to be able to provide them, such as if you were watching the program on either cable, satellite, or broadcast; what channel it was; the names of both the advertiser and product; the date and time of the commercial; and the name of the TV program during which the commercial was aired.

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