§621 Rulemaking on loud commercials required

Summary

The Federal Communications Commission must, within 1 year after December 15, 2010, create a rule that requires the A/85 loudness guideline (and any later updates approved by the Advanced Television Systems Committee) to be used, but only for how commercial advertisements are sent by television broadcast stations, cable operators, or other multichannel video programming distributors. The rule must start 1 year after it is adopted. The FCC can delay that start date for any station, operator, or distributor that proves buying the needed equipment would cause financial hardship for 1 year, and can renew that delay for 1 more year. The FCC also keeps its existing power under 47 C.F.R. 1.3 to waive rules for good cause. If an operator installs and keeps the required equipment and software in a commercially reasonable way, it will be treated as following the rule. Definitions: “television broadcast station” — as defined in section 325 of the Communications Act of 1934; “cable operator” and “multichannel video programming distributor” — as defined in section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934.