A maneuver by advertisers. Viewers regularly complain about the volume of television commercials, which appear louder than the programs broadcast before and after these spots. The whole thing is in reality a cleverly orchestrated illusion.
As the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA) explains on its website, the advertisements in question are in fact not broadcast with a louder sound. Advertisers actually use a technique called “dynamic compression”. Used in the CD industry in the 90s, it consists of amplifying sound elements that are below a certain level.
Faced with this technique, the ear is forced to adapt to sort through the sound information sent to it, and the sound appears noticeably louder. However, the “maximum amplitude level” remains the same.
The CSA controls the chains
The obvious goal for advertisers is to grab the viewer’s attention. However, as the CSA explains, this technique “can be commercially counterproductive since, used excessively, it can encourage the viewer to lower or cut the sound, or even to change the channel”.
To remedy this, the CSA has taken measures concerning sound intensity. Thanks to specific tools, since 2011 it has been able to control it, so as to intervene directly with the channels concerned. Contacted by CNEWS, the CSA ensures that in ten years, the number of complaints concerning this problem has been “halved”.