That's A Great Flippin Question 7/17/07
By: Alex Flippin
Updated: July 17, 2007
A viewer wrote me because she noticed something about television commercials. Something a lot of people we spoke with also seemed to notice. Television commercials seem louder than regular programming. But why? Well thats a great Flippin question....and armed with a consensus of research and the fact that I work at a TV station, I set out to answer it.
The main reason for seemingly louder commercials? Because commercials are all recorded with absolutely no nuance. Meaning every audio channel is set as loud as the FCC will allow...but its not actually louder than the loudest part of the TV show you were watching. So why do commercials seem louder? Because they were recorded with every audio channel at its peak, coupled with....and here is the main reason....your perception. You might have been watching a quiet love story or an intense, but soft spoken scene.....Then all of a sudden, youre blasted by a commercial where subtle nuances in sound have absolutely no place. It is to get you attention, but technically, its not louder.
