TV programming in the US set to get less violent soon

People have wondered why movies and TV programs

have so many guns and gun shots. Also, they wonder why

the gun shots are so loud.

TV portrayal of gunfire has caused confusion in real life

since people confronting a real shooting most often

only hear "popping" sounds which they don't immediately

associate with guns, thanks to TV, and so they don't take

cover, or run, or stop driving toward the sounds until

someone yells that there's a gun. It's similar to how misleading

movie portrayals of heroes running through burning buildings

have cost many people their lives in real life.

Well, it turns out that ever since 1984 under President Reagan

(1981–1989), regulators swore they were unable to determine

what a "too loud" TV advertisement was. That's not surprising

since all regulatory agencies are de-fanged whenever a Republican

is president.

What happened after 1984 is the advertisement break was set

to be no louder than the loudest noises in a TV program or

TV movie. Sponsors wanted their adverts loud, so they chose

to sponsor programs with gunshots, while less violent and quiet

programs were left for PBS to air since PBS doesn't allow normal

advertisements. A gun that went pop wouldn't do since that

would make for quiet advertisements, so all the guns went bang,

and there were plenty of bombs besides.

In 2011 there's a federal law and a standard proscribing

loud ads, so perhaps sponsors will let advert revenues flow toward

quieter and less violent programming, since their advert won't

be able to be blasted anymore no matter what program they

choose.

The situation reminds me of large boxes of cereal at grocery

stores. For decades the cereal only filled up two-thirds of the

box at best. A small print note on the box said that contents

may have settled during shipment. That was just a convenient

lie since the real reason was so the boxes would act as billboards,

and if they were half empty, people would have to buy another

box sooner. Walmart put an end to much of that nonsense.

Hopefully TV programming will follow the same course.

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MAY 29, 2008: 4:25 AM EDTEmail | Print Type Size

Wal-Mart puts the squeeze on food costs

The retailer is using its clout with vendors to hold onto its everyday low prices.

By Suzanne Kapner,

http://divisionoflabour.com/archives/004731.php

excerpt: Shrink the goods. Ever wonder why that cereal box is only two-thirds full? Foodmakers love big boxes because they serve as billboards on store shelves. Wal-Mart has been working to change that by promising suppliers that their shelf space won't shrink even if their boxes do. As a result, some of its vendors have reengineered their packaging. General Mills' (GIS, Fortune 500) Hamburger Helper is now made with denser pasta shapes, allowing the same amount of food to fit into a 20% smaller box at the same price. The change has saved 890,000 pounds of paper fiber and eliminated 500 trucks from the road, giving General Mills a cushion to absorb some of the rising costs.

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Well, Hush My Mouth: Congress Is Moving Against LOUD Ads

After Decades of Complaints, Law Makers Are Yielding to Popular Demand

By DANIEL MICHAELS And ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON

http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/100997-US-Congress-Set-to-Fix-quot-Too-Loud-quot-TV-Ads

excerpt: For years, broadcasters' standard definition of "too loud" has simply been a level on volume meters that overloads electrical circuits and distorts soundtracks. Ads aren't supposed to exceed the peak loudness of the programs they interrupt.

Here's the catch: The "peak" is often merely a spike, such as a gunshot piercing the silence of a movie mystery. Ad producers, meanwhile, crank every bit of sound to just below that peak level. The result often drives viewers batty: A program ebbs into a commercial break with a bit of quiet dialogue, and then an ad explodes at volume just shy of a bomb blast.

Industry officials insist that this isn't done just so consumers can't ignore commercials. It's because sound mixers are simply trying to one-up the volume of adjacent ads. The result is an arms race for listening ears.

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