SPRINGFIELD — A bill that would prevent streaming services from running commercials at a higher volume than the shows and movies people are watching passed through the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee on Thursday.
Senate Bill 3222 sponsored by state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, would allow Illinoisans to lodge official complaints over commercial volume if they’re substantially louder than the programs they accompany.
“This is really important because it really does affect people’s quality of life,” Turner said. “And I think that we have a responsibility to, you know, to look at those kinds of things and do what we can.”
Turner said constituents with young children who nap during the day, and people who have hearing disabilities have complained about watching movies or TV on streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, only to be interrupted by commercials that are noticeably louder.
Turner said the ubiquity of streaming services makes this legislation a timely, needed update to existing regulations.
“I think that this is a good time, just because that’s kind of the trend of the way that people are watching. Movies and TV shows and all of that is basically on streaming services,” she said.
Commercial volume for TV stations, cable and satellite TV is already regulated at the federal level with the 2010 Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation, or CALM, Act. But those regulations don’t include streaming services.
Those rules are set and enforced by the Federal Communications Commission, which uses consumer complaints to assess where and when rules are broken.
Turner’s bill has a similar enforcement mechanism, but she said she will introduce an amendment to clarify whether the Illinois Commerce Commission or the Illinois attorney general’s office will receive complaints and enforce the volume rule.
State Sen. Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island, introduced a similar bill with a different enforcement structure, and he said he’s happy to join forces with Turner to regulate commercial volume on streaming services.
“It’s frustrating for me and I’m not someone that has a hearing disability or has to worry about a young child taking a nap during the day,” he said. “But constituents do have those issues and expressed significant support for this bill.”
The bill now goes to the Senate floor.