topic Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials in Among Friends

Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

homedecor1 — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 03:46:54 GMT

I just have to ask as it's been NON-stop raining for over a week & I am not a TV watcher normally but what else to do when your stuck inside (flooding in our area). I swear the normal tv show I can watch on volume low then when commercials come on it's like a LOUD speaker was turned on. Is it me? 😳😱

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

sandraskates — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 03:55:49 GMT

Nope, it's not just you.

And worse yet - a couple of us were discussing Tut in the TV forum and on that show the dialogue could barely be heard, then the battles would start and blow out the eardrums! There was no leveling out of the sound.

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

Plaid Pants2 — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 03:56:06 GMT

@homedecor1 wrote:
I just have to ask as it's been NON-stop raining for over a week & I am not a TV watcher normally but what else to do when your stuck inside (flooding in our area). I swear the normal tv show I can watch on volume low then when commercials come on it's like a LOUD speaker was turned on. Is it me? 😳😱

No, it isn't just you. It's annoying as all get out.

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

house_cat — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 03:57:39 GMT

Wow! You must really not watch a lot of t.v. if you haven't noticed that before :-) Advertisers know that we walk away from the t.v. when there's a commercial break. I noticed that the commercials for my cable company are the loudest of all!

And speaking of commercials... is it my imagination that they have become rather vulgar lately? I was watching with my son one afternoon and saw a commercial for condoms, Viagra, an IUD, vaginal lubrication cream AND someone talking about "enjoying the go".. with "go" meaning taking a poop! Whaaaa? Is nothing private anymore? Whatever happened to peanut butter, toothpaste and dish detergent commercials?

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

colliemom4 — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 03:58:57 GMT

No it's not you. My husband said that it was supposed to be illegal now? But it's still happening. I have noticed it's not as bad as it used to be.

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

tedEbear — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 04:33:35 GMT

HOME DECOR-----definitely not just you. Just like COLLIEMOM says Commercials are REGULATED,not against the law. Commercials can only be as loud as the LOUDEST sound in the show the ad is advertising in. I THINK that is why the music and everything EXCEPT the voices are so loud, the ad agency must be giving dollar breaks if background gets pumped up, then the AD can run at the highest decibel of the show.

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

circles — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 07:17:48 GMT

I sleep with my T.V. on ...I can't leave the station on regular programming because the commercials are so loud they jar me awake...(I don't sleep very well as it is)....so before I plan on going to bed...I put the Q. on or HSN....sometimes one of the PBS stations...anything that does not have ads....

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

Vivian — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 11:33:28 GMT

Commercials are definitely louder than regular programs. I also thought a law had been passed forbidding louder commercials but now I see that the law pertained to the loudest sounds on TV shows. Not only are the ads loud but they are also more frequent. I have counted a full five minutes on some network breaks, making the commercials almost as long as the programs. If you watch old TV shows, the time allotted to them is often more than an hour or half hour, allowing for the additional commercial time. I have also read that in addition to cutting out parts of scenes, programs are subjected to a speed-up in order to accommodate commercials.

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

StylishLady — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 13:00:02 GMT

Advertising pays for the shows we watch. It's sometimes annoying, but if the show/story/movie is worth watching, so be it. Commercials are routinely recorded at higher volumes than much of the dialogue in shows. Directors try to get your attention by making some of the dialogue hard to hear, Alfred Hitchcock did this a lot in his movies.

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

Southernfriedchick — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 14:51:23 GMT

Not just you and I hate it! I'm not into watching TV either, but when

I do watch, I flip the mute button every 5 minutes!

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

justathought — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 17:07:45 GMT

How about the TP. commercial that states you will be so clean you can wear your underwear for 2 days ?

These nasty commercial get our attention and that is what the seller wants.

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

KJPA — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 23:31:19 GMT

I couldn't even enjoy the Tut show because it really did hurt my ears when the ads came on. I could hardly hear the actors.

And I also thought some law was passed about this. It always bothered me the Tut thing was ridiculous.

Maybe the rule should be that commercials can't be louder than the average volume of the human voices?

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

homedecor1 — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 00:17:03 GMT

House cat: I really watch tv out of boredom sometimes which for the last 10 days has been stuck in the house.

omg daytime tv is terrible although I used to enjoy The Chew once in awhile.

So I'll keep on HGTV unfortunately mostly re-runs but good background noise (rarely watch QVC anymore).

In the evening I'll watch MasterChef, Deadliest Catch, House Hunters and that's about regular shows. The rest of the time I flick channels.

I also noticed that flicking during commercials all the stations have breaks that's when I flick to old standby shopping channels! Thank you everyone for clearing up my "imagination" and I'll be glad when the sun returns and get back to my normal routine!!!😊

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

house_cat — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 03:26:30 GMT

I think the practice is misguided. As a teacher, I can assure you that if you want an audience's attention, you should lower your voice, not raise it.

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

ANewHue — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 03:33:28 GMT

Constantly lowering the TV during commercials. The optimum is when I can watch a recorded show with NO commercials. Many shows also play music and you cant hear the people that are speaking. It's so annoying because it's usualky during a crucial moment in the show.

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

Chrystaltree2 — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 17:54:12 GMT

No, it's not just you. Commercials are always louder than the programs to grab our attention.

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

ChynnaBlue — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:00:03 GMT

Did you know that this is actually against the law now? Congress passed the CALM Act and any station doing this can be reported. Here's more information about the act and how to file a complaint: https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/loud-commercials

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

frenchie — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:00:54 GMT

My mute button has no more lettering on it. Movies? Forget it. Nothing breaks the mood like a commercial. I buy movies and watch them uninterrupted.

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

Nataliesgramma — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:20:35 GMT

I like to DVR alot of shows that I watch......then I watch them and fast forward the commercials.....

Re: Is this my "Imagination"? Commercials

deeva — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 19:40:53 GMT

I used the FTC form to complain about loud commercials about a year ago. The information that they required was very time consumming. It took me about five to seven minutes to complete the form.

Needles to say, I never got any feedback from the FTC.