Grumpy Editor

Forget the TV mute button, ad decibels now reduced

After a half century of complaints about loud television commercials, a new --- and welcomed --- federal law went into effect yesterday aimed at lowering the ad decibels, notes Grumpy Editor

Although the Federal Communications Commission since the 1960s has been receiving consumer complaints about TV commercials being louder than programming, it took a California congresswoman to do something about it. 

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D., Calif.) said she came up with the legislation idea more than two years ago after a loud commercial interrupted a family dinner.

“TV programs use a variety of sound levels to build dramatic effect,” she said at that time.  “But advertisements have been neither subtle nor nuanced.  My bill reduces commercial volume, allowing them to only be as loud as the decibel level of regular programming. Consumers will no longer have to experience being blasted at. It’s a simple fix to a huge nuisance.”

She said the TV volume legislation brought more response than anything she has sponsored during 20 years in Congress.

Under the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, television commercials are required to have the same average volume as the programs in which they air.

Actually, the CALM Act passed the Senate and House two years ago and President Barack Obama signed it.

However, it took time for the (often not so speedy) FCC to draw up rules and for industry groups (including reluctant ad folks) to sort through technical issues.

Did Obama’s NBC appearance violate campaign law?

 Chances are newspaper editorial writers will not tangle with this TV event, ditto with the Federal Communications Commission:  Did President Barack Obama’s appearance on NBC’s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” program violate the campaign finance law, questions Grumpy Editor. 

Breitbart.com writer Ben Shapiro thinks so and backs it up with input from federal “Statutes and Rules on Candidate Appearances and Advertising.” 

Aside from the president’s banter with Fallon on Tuesday, which Shapiro describes as “the worst ‘comedy’ segment in the history of mankind,” Shapiro explains: 

“The equal time rule states that if a licensee permits a person ‘who is a legally qualified candidate for any public office to use a broadcasting station, he shall afford equal opportunities to all other such candidates for that office in the use of such broadcasting station.’” 

Shapiro mentions there are exceptions to the rule, namely, “appearances on (1) a bona fide newscast, (2) a bona fide news interview, (3) a bona fide news documentary, or (4) on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events.” 

Pointing out “only the second provision could be construed as saving NBC from giving Mitt Romney equal time,” Shapiro adds, “But this was not a bona fide news interview. In fact, it wasn’t an interview at all --- no questions were asked, no answers were given. It was literally Obama reading a campaign speech over a guitar, a horn, a keyboard and some drums.” 

Shapiro figures the president’s appearance on the late-night program “was clearly an in-kind contribution by NBC to the Obama campaign.”

 

FCC toughens annoying ‘robocalls’ from telemarketers

Telemarketers, even those linked to consumers via an “established business relationship” such as banks or auto dealerships, now will have to obtain your written consent before placing those pesky “robocalls” which always seem to occur at inopportune times, finds Grumpy Editor.

New rules from the Federal Communications Commission make it more difficult for automatic dialers with prerecorded messages to reach consumers.

Also, to simplify things, the FCC will require firms behind “robocalls” to allow those on the receiving end to opt-out of future calls within the first two seconds via pressing keys on phones.

Despite the fresh clampdown, some marketing folks and others still will find ways to interrupt peaceful evenings.

These include pollsters, schools, churches and non-profit operations.

And, not surprisingly, loopholes also allow another group to reach you:  politicians.

The key method to block unwanted calls is to go to DoNotCall.gov and add your name to the National Do Not Call Registry.

No need to re-sign every five years, as some media sources suggest.

Registered telephone numbers will remain permanently, stemming from the Do Not Call Improvement Act of 2007 that became law in February, 2008.

 

Missouri mystery: Neighborhood garage door openers fail

Radio-controlled garage door openers at five homes on the same St. Louis area street are not working, causing frustrated residents --- after checking a number of possible frequency conflicts --- to call on the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the phenomenon, notes Grumpy Editor. 

But seeking an FCC investigation may take some time.  The government agency these days is more concerned with broadband spectrums that keep smart phones operating. 

Such an unusual matter in earlier days would see the FCC on scene on the day a complaint comes in. 

The problem, surfacing in late December, obviously stems from interference from a stronger source on or close to the same frequency that the garage doors operate. 

With the case of the “clash of radio frequencies,” the affected automatic door openers utilize low power at 315 megahertz.  Now that is close to some Defense Department transmissions that use the 380 to 399.9 MHz spectrum, usually with high power. 

Adding to the mix are a number of wireless gadgets.

Growing in use are so-called “smart meters” being installed by utilities around the country.  But the data they transmit wirelessly flow through the higher 450 to 470 MHz and 902 to 928 MHz frequencies. 

Thus, solving the mysterious “radio frequency collision” affecting homes in the St. Louis area provides an excellent opportunity for a publication or a broadcasting company to dispatch electronic experts to the scene to perform a public service and reap national publicity.

And to cue in the FCC.