The other day I was streaming one of my favorite shows from a popular online streaming site (both of whom will remain anonymous) when out of no where a noticeably loud commercial disturbed my viewing pleasure. Man that’s loud, I said to myself…but how loud? I wondered. So I did what any decent techie would do and I reached for a meter to measure. I’ll spare you the geek details and just post a screenshot of the audio recording of the show. You don’t have to have an engineering degree to see the difference here. Take a guess where the commercials are…

It’s not just you, streaming commercials are really too loud. Not all streaming sites are created equal. Some actually have commercials that are indistinguishable in volume, others have commercials that are at a less volume than programming. If you come across loud commercials, don’t just take it. Find a way to file a complaint. As of December 13, 2012, the FCC set rules requiring TV providers (over-air, cable, and satellite) to set commercial volume no louder than program volume. It isn’t clear if these rules cover streaming content over the internet.

Can’t we all just stream along?