Man with remote reacting to loud streaming ad, bassinet nearby
California viewers will soon experience a quieter streaming experience as a new state law, SB 576, takes effect on July 1. The legislation, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, prohibits streaming platforms from running advertisements at a volume louder than the video content they interrupt.
This new rule extends a pre-existing federal regulation, the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM Act) of 2010, which already governs broadcast and cable television. The CALM Act mandates that commercials match the average volume of the programming they accompany.
Gov. Newsom’s office highlighted the bill’s intent to address a common frustration among Californians. “We heard Californians loud and clear, and what’s clear is that they don’t want commercials at a volume any louder than the level at which they were previously enjoying a program,” Newsom stated when signing the bill. “By signing SB 576, California is dialing down this inconvenience across streaming platforms, which had previously not been subject to commercial volume regulations passed by Congress in 2010.”
The bill was championed by Democratic state Sen. Tom Umberg, who cited the experience of parents whose children were woken by sudden, loud streaming ads. “This bill was inspired by baby Samantha and every exhausted parent who’s finally gotten a baby to sleep, only to have a blaring streaming ad undo all that hard work,” Umberg said. “SB 576 brings some much-needed peace and quiet to California households by making sure streaming ads aren’t louder than the shows we actually want to watch.”
The move comes as streaming services increasingly rely on ad-supported subscription tiers to boost revenue. However, industry groups like the Motion Picture Association and the Streaming Innovation Alliance reportedly opposed the bill, suggesting that many platforms were already working on solutions to normalize ad volume.
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