No, this isn't a ban on negative political advertising.
Rather, it refers to the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, which requires that TV advertisements be no louder than the programs surrounding them. The FCCs gone through the process of setting standards and the notice of proposed rulemaking, and decided that it will leave monitoring and enforcement to be based on patterns of viewer complaints, and it will be up to stations (and multichannel video providers like cable and satellite) to ensure compliance (rather than a commercial's source).
The new rule doesn't seem to say anything about PSAs or sponsorship announcements on noncommercial stations, so I guess those can still be as loud as they want.
In any case, it should cut down on reaching for the remote to turn the volume down during commercial breaks. At least a little.
Source: FCC Orders CALM Over The Land, TV TechCheck
Rather, it refers to the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, which requires that TV advertisements be no louder than the programs surrounding them. The FCCs gone through the process of setting standards and the notice of proposed rulemaking, and decided that it will leave monitoring and enforcement to be based on patterns of viewer complaints, and it will be up to stations (and multichannel video providers like cable and satellite) to ensure compliance (rather than a commercial's source).
The new rule doesn't seem to say anything about PSAs or sponsorship announcements on noncommercial stations, so I guess those can still be as loud as they want.
In any case, it should cut down on reaching for the remote to turn the volume down during commercial breaks. At least a little.
Source: FCC Orders CALM Over The Land, TV TechCheck