2847) (CALM Act) requires the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to bar the audio of TV commercials from being broadcast louder than the TV program material they accompany by requiring all "multichannel video programming" distributors to implement the "Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television" issued by the international industry group Advanced Television Systems Committee.
[2] Unlike some FCC regulations, cable system operators are subject to the rule in addition to broadcast stations.
The technical requirements for measuring loudness were taken entirely from a formerly voluntary "recommended practice" issued by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) on November 4, 2009.
[11] Before it was signed into law in December, minor differences between the two versions had to be worked out when Congress returned to Washington after the November 2 election.
[13] On May 27, 2011, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Media Bureau (MB) Docket 11–93, to implement the CALM Act.