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The bill protects viewers from sudden loud ads and aligns internet-delivered video with broadcast loudness rules, but imposes compliance costs on services/advertisers and creates enforcement gray areas for user-generated content.
All viewers (including renters, homeowners, and people in urban communities) will receive more consistent audio levels so internet-delivered TV ads won’t play louder than programs, reducing sudden loud-ad shocks and potential hearing discomfort.
Large multichannel video providers (MVPDs) and major streaming services gain clearer regulatory parity with traditional broadcast/cable, simplifying compliance expectations across distribution platforms.
Streaming services, advertisers, and platforms may face costs to measure and adjust ad loudness, which could be passed through to consumers via higher prices or reduced content investment.
Narrowly excluding consumer-generated media from coverage could create enforcement edge cases and uncertainty for platforms, creators, and tech workers about what content is regulated.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs the FCC to issue rules within 18 months requiring ad volume in IP-delivered video programming to be substantially equivalent to broadcast/cable ad loudness standards.
Introduced February 2, 2026 by Stephanie I. Bice · Last progress February 2, 2026
Requires the Federal Communications Commission to write regulations, within 18 months of enactment, that make commercial advertisements in internet protocol (IP)-delivered video programming meet loudness/volume standards substantially equivalent to those that already apply to broadcast, cable, and other multichannel video programming distributors. The bill expands the existing CALM Act rules to cover IP-delivered video programming while excluding consumer-generated media from that definition. The requirement applies via a rulemaking under the Communications Act of 1934; the measure does not appropriate funds or create new agencies, but it directs the FCC to issue and enforce implementing regulations on streaming and other IP-delivered video services so ad volumes are not significantly louder than program content.