Why are TV adverts always louder than the programmes you watch?

Question

Why are TV adverts always louder than the programmes you watch?

Answer 1

right on, extremely annoying ... I less and less watch TV, I use the net instead to watch movies, series, news, music ... , someday TV channels will be paying us to watch their cr*p ...

Answer 2

They aren't actually louder, but the normal dynamic range (the difference between soft and loud) is compressed so they sound annoyingly loud. When I am typing I use a mixture of big and little letters to make it nice and easy to read, THESE ADVERTS ARE ALL IN BIG TO TRY AND GET YOUR ATTENTION!. The worst one I ever heard was the harangue for the CRAFTMATIC ADJUSTABLE BED....CALL NOW...OPERATORS ARE WAITING.... Fortunately that one has stopped. The Advertising Standards are supposed to regulate these, but they don't always do a very good job, and with the 100s of satellite channels they can only respond to things where people complain. The daytime ads seem worse, perhaps because they think daytime viewers are old, gullible, and deaf.

Answer 3

It is absolutely to grab your attention. Also they are making bad adverts to stick in your head like confused.com and uswitch. You don't like them but cannot forget them.



I've been off work for the past 5 weeks (slipped disc) and have experienced daytime TV adverts for the first time. There seems to be an assumption that if your home in the middle of the day you must really want to sue someone for an injury.



Also if you stay up to watch TV late at night as I have done recently, the adverts are aimed at people who are lonely. There is an assumption that you cannot meet girls and need some text flirt thing to meet someone.



So as you can tell, I've way too much time on my hands and the adverts are annoying me.

Answer 4

Amy Beware has the closest answer; the correct answer is that it's not any louder. It just sounds louder.



Think about it this way. Program Audio can be loud or quiet. It's normally kept at the sweet spot on the VU meters, so you can hear both the whispering love scenes as well as the car chase gun fight scene.

Commercial Audio is normally compressed (dynamically) so the entire 30 seconds or whatever length is running very loud, comparably as loud as the gun fight car chase scenes. But the actual audio of the Commercial Audio is no louder than the Program Audio. (at it's peaks)



When a TV broadcast goes to a commercial, it goes quiet first.(it's called fading to black) Then the commercial comes on with it's levels all way up, and is just as loud as the gun fight car chase scene. NOT LOUDER.

Answer 5

I only noticed this when I went onto cable TV. I'm sure it didn't happen on good old broadcast. I personally think that no-one at the cable companies is actually monitoring what they show. All they do is stick a DVD in every few days and spend the rest of their time in the pub.

Answer 6

annoying isnt it

the reason is this...



Commercial advertisments have a lot more money spent on them than typically the programme you are watching.

Therefore they are using better equiptment and are paying for top quality image and sound. the volume is the same but the quality is better. to our ears that equates to louder.

Answer 7

because adverts aim is to get your attention so when you are all relaxed watching a programme the way to get your attention is to chenge the volume as this is the main sense we are using

Answer 8

It's the same with the sounds they make at the start of the news (can't call it music) always wakes me up! Though maybe they should give a blast in between as well.

Answer 9

When the adverts come on, my hand automatically reaches for the remote and the mute button lol.

Does anyone actually watch them?

Answer 10

They're not louder, but are a different pitch, to make you notice them more.

The more annoying they the are is what makes you remember them, and it sells the products. And that's what it's all about.

Answer 11

So they keep you awake until the programme is back on again.

Answer 12

for you to notice the advert.

Answer 13

so so true is pi**es me off. especially on the satellite channel's like bravo. i swear the TV companies do it on purpose to amuse themselves.

Answer 14

To wake you up, in case you fell asleep while watching something boring!!

Answer 15

because they want to get your attention and so that they make sure you hear it no matter where you are in your house.

also just to get on your nerves!!!!!!!

Answer 16

glad I'm not the only one who thinks that, but it is very annoying tho isn't it?

Answer 17

They do that to grab your attention.

Answer 18

SO THEY CAN CAPTURE YOUR ATTENTION!!!