Rules barring loud TV ads go into effect Saturday

New CRTC rules that go into effect Saturday require digital broadcasters to ensure that television programs and the ads that break them up all come in at the same volume level.
Aggravatingly loud TV commercials have been a consumer bugaboo in Canada for years.
Last year, the CRTC received some 7,000 "Yes" responses when it asked viewers if they thought the ads were too loud.
The regulator called it an unusually high response to a request for comment, one that was 10 times higher than the number of complaints it had received in the previous three years combined.
"Broadcasters have allowed ear-splitting ads to disturb viewers and have left us little choice but to set out clear rules that will put an end to excessively loud ads," then-CRTC chairman, Konrad von Finckenstein, said a year ago.
The agency produced draft rules last December and gave broadcasters time to respond. In May, it said September would be the deadline to muzzle the commercials.