[BC] DTV Audio Levels

[Rich Wood]

------ At 08:23 AM 6/15/2009, Cowboy wrote: -------

>  This one is bigger than radio guys can ( at first ) imagine !
>  Not only is there reluctance, but that reluctance is entirely justified.
>  First, you have to un-embed the audio. Then, you correct the level.

I don't think it's a radio vs. TV guys thing. Very simply it's 
listener/viewer fatigue and irritation. Viewers don't give a damn how 
it's done. All that matters is that they enjoy the experience and 
stay tuned. Years ago, when the FCC got involved, complaints weren't 
about bad pictures. They were about loud commercials. Now we have 
extremely loud commercials, some in Dolby Digital 5.1. This time the 
FCC probably won't get involved if there's no fine attached. It's not 
a profit center. A TV station will be less of a profit center if 
viewing falls off or a local advertiser gets no results because his 
spot has been zapped..

There's going to be a run on DVRs and lots of ineffective advertising 
because of zipping, zapping and muting. No technical excuse is going 
to help. If there's no budget to fix it, eventually there won't be 
viewers to watch it. Let's see what would happen if a car dealer 
explained to a buyer (in better times) that there's no left headlight 
because there wasn't a budget for it. It's going to take a brilliant 
salesperson to make the sale.

Nearly everyone I know has an HDTV. Most have it connected to a 5.1 
audio system. Their biggest complaint to me is the loud commercials. 
We add insult to injury with Billy Mays and that sham dude. I watch 
much less broadcast TV and give my Netflix subscription a good 
workout. I expect the dynamic range of a Blu-Ray disc. I don't expect 
to be jolted by Billy Mays at super levels. With 5.1 I expect him to 
give me 6 for the price of one.

Rich