The MoPR Blog

As the CALM Act makes its way through Congress, more and more industry leaders are chiming in on the Act and what exactly it means for cable, satellite, telecom and other providers of multi-channel video. This is a timely discussion should the CALM Act eventually become law, which is likely as it has passed the House and it’s one bill that Democrats and Republicans in the Senate can get behind without much rancor.

One industry executive in particular is tackling the issue of how video service providers can actually identify overly loud commercials embedded in their programming, which is the first step in combating them.

Mixed Signals’ Steve Liu tackles the topic in his article “Monitoring Multi-Channel Audio Loudness Issues” in the latest edition of Broadband Gear Report.

In the article he outlines the specific requirements of the CALM Act and how effective and comprehensive content monitoring can not only enable service provider to meet the conditions of the Act, but also increase the quality of the viewing experience for customers.

Because as we’ve discussed in the past, no one likes the crazy hike in the loudness of commercials. What do we want instead? An optimal viewing experience that is void of ear-blasting audio. Surely that can’t be too much to ask for, especially in a time when we have the tools we need to effectively monitor the issues and catch the offending errors.

As always, we’ll keep you updated on the current state of the CALM Act along with other industry commentary.

Stay tuned!

You may recall a couple of months back a blog post regarding the Cable-Tec Expo show. In particular, I discussed Mixed Signals’ demonstrations and announcements surrounding Sentry’s ability to measure the loudness of TV commercials and programs.

“As overly loud commercials have become increasingly problematic, proposed legislation is now before Congress that would require video service providers to address this pressing issue. The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act would require video service providers to ensure that commercials not be any louder than the average volume of the programs they accompany.”

Yesterday good news arrived: The CALM Act has passed the House and will now go on to the Senate. Making it past the House is a huge and important step for the bill- a step that many bills never see.

Rep. Anna Eshoo, the California Democrat driving this measure, said “loud commercials are a common complaint with the Federal Communication Commission” and that “the new legislation would force the industry to comply with its own standards.” And it looks like the House agrees.

Will the bill pass the Senate? Well, if you’re not a fan of loud commercials, you had better hope so! And if it does pass? Mixed Signals’ is ready to help:

“We understand the irritation from both cable operators as well as subscribers when it comes to loud commercials interrupting an otherwise enjoyable television experience – which is why we have upgraded Sentry to help solve this frustration, especially as new legislation regarding this issue is progressing quickly, ” said Eric Conley, CEO of Mixed Signals. “Our number one priority is to make sure cable operators have the tools they need to catch these service affecting issues, which is why Sentry’s upgrade enables operators to cost-effectively monitor their entire programming line-up in a scalable way that identifies loudness issues immediately when they occur.”

As always, we’ll keep you updated as the bill works its way through the Senate.

As the never-ending slew of massive corporate Black Friday advertisements begin their impending invasion upon us, I can’t help but be thankful this year for something I never thought I’d utter around this year’s turkey feast: local ads.

Yes, you heard it here first. I, Tamara Parker, will be thankful this year for more local advertisements. Crazy? Well, allow me to explain.

In an economy where the majority of mom and pop shops are suffering under the weight of a sagging economy, it’s easy to notice the decline in local advertisements, particularly the smallest of the small shops. And being an eager advocate of supporting the local market, it disappoints me when my favorite bistro or neighborhood coffee shop can’t afford the massive budget for print advertisements, especially when they rarely see the ROI they expect in return for their life savings investment in this week’s penny saver.

So where do these local shops turn to? Television. And with products like RGB Network’s Broadcast Network Processor, cable operators can easily offer this local advertisement service without a huge mark-up and with a promise of much greater ROI.

The BNP’s ad insertion and real-time digital overlays enable operators to easily insert ads into programming and to further customize these ads in real-time with the addition of locally relevant information that ‘localizes’ them. So when you sit down to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade, instead of only large, corporate commercials you might be seeing more neighborhood coffee shop specials taking place at 5PM and deals at the local art gallery all day Friday- all of which are relevant to YOU and based upon YOUR area code.

Just to clarify, I take no personal issue with the corporate commercials, but I do find myself getting irritated when I watch said commercials and either their locations or their products are nowhere near me. Local ad insertion is a win-win for three parties: you as the consumer receive relevant ads, the cable operators are making more money off of advertising, and the locally-owned and operated shops are getting their name out in a far more effective advertising campaign.

So ‘tis the season to be relevant! Cost-effective! And most importantly…local!