The more things change, the more they stay the same. Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and many other streaming platforms came along and reinvented television. The premise was simple: you paid a subscription fee (which wasn’t expensive at the time), and you could watch an unlimited catalog of movies and series for 30 days.
You could spend the weekend glued to your couch. And nothing would distract you, because there were no ads or interruptions. Unfortunately, that changed. Soon, these companies discovered that they had to run ads to be profitable. With that came commercial breaks with exaggerated volume increases. Things have reached such a point that the state of California now has legislation to address this practice.
No more jumping out of your seat while Netflix & Chilling in California
It’s happened to all of us. Whether watching traditional television or a streaming platform. You have the volume turned up relatively high so you can hear the whispered dialogue of the characters in the series you’re watching. And then, without warning, you jump out of your seat. An advertisement appears at full volume on your television. With your heart racing, you focus all your senses on finding the remote control and turning down the volume.
This advertising practice is used all over the world. And we don’t know a single person who likes it. In almost every country, this has been legislated for television, but there was a legal loophole for streaming platforms. After all, until just two or three years ago, all these services operated without ads.
Now that streaming is virtually indistinguishable from cable television, California lawmakers have taken action to end this advertising practice on services such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Peacock, among others. Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed Bill AB 2648 into law. The text will require that the volume of advertisements match that of the content being viewed.
The California regulation will come into effect on January 1, 2026. California is, in fact, the first state to establish regulations of this kind for streaming services. However, it is very likely that before the end of 2026, we will see other texts approved in more territories, as streaming companies are not being subtle when it comes to their commercial breaks and user complaints are on the rise.
Closing the volume loopholes in the CALM Act
As we mentioned at the beginning, this measure already existed, but only for television. In 2010, the US Congress passed the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (popularly known as the CALM Act). It was a direct response to public outrage over the excessively loud commercial breaks that were common on traditional television at the time.
The CALM Act worked. Television networks had to adhere to specific technical standards for audio mixing. However, the legislation was drafted at a time when streaming was in its infancy. And, even though it was done with services like Netflix in mind, it was impossible to foresee that all these services would end up being monetized with advertising. After all, what they sold us at the beginning was an unlimited service without commercial breaks.
For 15 years, streaming platforms have not been subject to the jurisdiction established by the Federal Communications Commission. This legal loophole has led to a situation in which advertisers have taken liberties that they did not have on television. The result, after a few years in which Netflix and other services are interrupted by ads, is the return of an unethical advertising technique that was thought to be extinct.
In any case, a new legal loophole remains. AB 2648 only applies to streaming services. That means social media platforms are, for the time being, exempt. TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and iOS and Android ads can continue to use this annoying practice until further notice.