Tektronix Helps Operators Comply With CALM
Tektronix has assembled a comprehensive line of solutions that enable video service providers to comply with the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, which requires that commercial advertisements be no louder than the programming they accompany.
With the recent signing of the CALM Act into law, video service providers now have a year to quiet their overly loud commercials, or face potential fines. Given that broadcasters, cable operators, satellite providers and major telecom carriers now offer literally hundreds of channels, penalties could be substantial.
According to Tektronix, the key for video service providers to address loud commercials is to identify and alert on them. Without scalable monitoring equipment, they have no insight into the volume levels at which the commercials are encoded, and consequently cannot identify loud commercials until after they run. Tektronix’ full line of solutions monitor commercials as they run, enabling video service providers to identify overly loud commercials, so that they can then be re-encoded at a lower volume. Once re-encoded, the commercials can be checked again for compliance before running.