California has enacted a new law to mute the jarringly loud commercials that often plague streaming services. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 576 into law on Monday, October 6, 2025, mandating that the volume of advertisements on platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime can be no louder than the programming they accompany. This legislation addresses a long-standing consumer complaint about sudden, dramatic spikes in audio levels during ad breaks, which can disrupt viewing experiences and create household disturbances.
The new law modernizes audio regulations for the digital age, extending existing federal standards for broadcast and cable television to the rapidly growing sector of online streaming. For years, the federal Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act of 2010 has regulated commercial volume on traditional television, but its provisions did not apply to streaming platforms. SB 576 closes this regulatory gap, aiming to create a more consistent and less jarring auditory experience for viewers in America’s most populous state. Because many major streaming companies are headquartered in California, the law is poised to have a ripple effect, potentially establishing a new national standard for commercial volume across the country.
A Closer Look at the Legislation
Senate Bill 576 was introduced by State Senator Thomas Umberg of Santa Ana. The core provision of the bill is straightforward: it prohibits streaming services from delivering commercial advertisements at an average volume that is discernibly louder than the content the viewer was watching. This aligns the rules for streaming with the standards that have governed broadcast and cable providers for over a decade. The law specifically targets the sudden changes in decibel levels that have forced viewers to scramble for their remote controls. Governor Newsom, in a statement after signing the bill, emphasized that the government “heard Californians loud and clear,” and that viewers do not want commercials at a higher volume than the program they are enjoying.
Targeting a Modern Annoyance
The problem of loud commercials is not new, but its prevalence on streaming services has become a significant source of frustration for consumers. Unlike traditional television, where the CALM Act provided a legal framework for enforcement through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the streaming world has been largely unregulated in this regard. This has led to a Wild West environment for audio levels, where advertisers could boost the volume of their commercials to grab attention, often to the detriment of the viewer’s experience. SB 576 directly addresses this issue by creating a clear legal standard for streaming services operating in California. The bill is designed to bring what Senator Umberg called “much-needed peace and quiet to California households.”
The Catalyst for Change
The inspiration for SB 576 came from a surprisingly personal and relatable source: a sleeping baby. The bill was prompted by the experience of one of Senator Umberg’s legislative aides, whose newborn, Samantha, was repeatedly awakened from her sleep by blaringly loud commercials during streaming ad breaks. This firsthand account of the disruptive impact of unregulated commercial volume resonated with the senator and his colleagues, highlighting a common household problem that a legislative solution could address. Senator Umberg noted that the bill was inspired by “every exhausted parent who’s finally gotten a baby to sleep, only to have a blaring streaming ad undo all that hard work.”
From Personal Complaint to Public Policy
The story of baby Samantha provided a powerful and easily understandable narrative for the bill’s necessity. It transformed an abstract consumer grievance into a tangible issue affecting families and their quality of life. This personal angle helped to galvanize support for the legislation, as it underscored the intrusive nature of loud commercials in the home environment. The anecdote was widely cited in reports and official statements, demonstrating how a single, well-articulated complaint can lead to significant policy changes that benefit a broad swath of the population. The law serves as a testament to the power of constituent feedback in the legislative process.
Implementation and National Impact
While Governor Newsom signed the bill in October 2025, the new regulations will not take effect immediately. The law has a built-in implementation period, with the commercial volume restrictions for streaming services scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2026. This delay gives streaming companies ample time to adjust their ad delivery systems and ensure they are in compliance with the new audio standards. The process will likely involve adopting new technologies and workflows for measuring and normalizing the loudness of commercials before they are served to viewers. The industry will need to implement a standardized method for measuring loudness, similar to the one used by broadcasters under the CALM Act.
Setting a De Facto National Standard
The significance of SB 576 extends far beyond California’s borders. Due to the state’s status as the headquarters for many of the world’s largest streaming and technology companies, including Netflix, the law is expected to have a nationwide, if not global, effect. It is often more practical and cost-effective for these companies to implement a single, uniform standard across their entire platform rather than creating and maintaining separate, region-specific advertising systems. As a result, it is highly probable that streaming services will apply the California-mandated volume limits to all of their subscribers, regardless of their location. This would effectively make SB 576 the de facto national standard for commercial loudness in the streaming era, bringing the benefits of quieter ads to viewers across the United States.
The Technical Side of Sound
At its core, the issue of loud commercials is a technical one. The perceived loudness of a sound is not just about its peak volume but also about its dynamic range—the difference between the quietest and loudest parts of a broadcast. Television shows and movies often have a wide dynamic range, with quiet dialogue and loud action sequences. Commercials, on the other hand, are typically produced with a much narrower dynamic range, where the entire advertisement is compressed to be as loud as possible throughout. This is why a commercial can seem so much louder than the program it interrupts, even if its peak volume is technically the same.
Enforcing the New Standard
To comply with the new law, streaming services will need to adopt a consistent method for measuring and controlling the average loudness of their content. The CALM Act relies on the ATSC A/85 Recommended Practice, a standard developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee that provides a method for measuring and controlling audio loudness for digital television. It is likely that streaming services will adopt a similar, algorithm-based approach to ensure their commercials match the average loudness of the surrounding programming. This will involve analyzing the audio of both the content and the advertisements and adjusting the volume of the ads as needed before they are delivered to the viewer. The enforcement of these standards will be a key aspect of the law’s success, although the specifics of how the state will monitor and ensure compliance are still being developed.