California's SB 576 on Extra-Loud Streaming Commercials

Cafe Society
1

For those not aware of the legislation (passed last year, went into effect on July 1, 2026)

Now, the legislation is California facing, but I’d personally love to see this implemented at the Federal level!

I wanted to ask if any of our California-residing posters have seen any improvement yet. A couple of searches online have only said there isn’t any effective timeline or enforcement of the standards yet, and it certainly hasn’t been rolled out to be compliant in general - I was reminded of the legislation after a few really excessive commercials blared out on Prime Video yesterday.

Since the law apparently doesn’t allow individuals to bring suit against the providers, it may also be a bit of political fluff, with no real planned enforcement, but I hope it gets plenty of support.

I know this is also a political action, but the main focus of the legislation seems more Cafe Society facing, and about our changing viewing habits, so, thus my initial placement.

2

I’m in California and after reading this it occurred to me that I don’t ordinarily watch online commercials. I have a great ad blocker, I pay for YouTube Premium and the streaming services that I use are paid and don’t have commercials. The exception is Prime which I have for the shipping. I’ll pay for a movie on there sometimes so no commercials either.

But just for you, I did an experiment just now. I put on a movie that has commercials and forwarded it up to a minute before the break. A BMW commercial came on and it was at the same level as the movie. There’s one data point for you to start.

3

And thank you for the data point.

TBC, I won’t say every commercial is excessively loud, but the majority of them are noticeably louder than the volume set on the TV by itself.

[ aside, I only use the Prime Video ad-supported tier, it’s good for cheesy movies to have on in the background when I’m doing something else ]

4

They are following us. This is already the rule in the UK. There also has to be a noticeable difference between the ad and the programme, although there is some product placement allowed.

5

It has been illegal for commercials to be significantly louder than the program they interrupt since 2010 on broadcast television in the United States (https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/loud-commercials-tv). What’s new about this law is that it applies to streaming platforms rather than only broadcast TV.

6

Yep, that’s why I included “streaming” in the title. I just hope we get a federal law matching the California regulations.

7

Does this apply to built-in commercials, as distinct from inter-spliced commercials? America’s Test Kitchen’s YouTube channel sometimes has their own commercials set considerably louder than the program content, and unlike watching them on public TV, the commercials are in the middle of the program rather than at the end (or beginning).

8

That’s a good question. I don’t know the answer, but the way that I read the legislation, it’s that the content of the “commercials” has to be the same volume as set for the content. I’d assume it’s not a problem if the self-advertisement is organically included as part of the program, just really annoying.

It reminds me of the stingers (?) from some shows I previously watched that had a noticeably louder “returning from commercial break” to clue you in.