TV firms agree to turn down volume on adverts

Private broadcasters including the enormous private broadcaster ProSiebenSat1 gave up previous opposition and agreed to change their policies after all agreed on generous preparation times, the Handelsblatt reported on Wednesday.

But viewers will be left diving for the volume button at every commercial break until next August, when the new volume regulations are due to kick in. This means the state broadcaster ARD will wait for longer than it had intended, the paper said.

Advertisers’ organisation the GWA had argued that if the volume on television adverts was to be turned down, it should be done across the board at the same time – to save advert producers the extra costs of making ads with more than one soundtrack.

The association said it welcomed the change, saying it would lead to a more harmonic experience for viewers – although this leaves unanswered the question of who wanted adverts to be so much louder than programmes in the first place.

The Local/hc