ATSC extends loudness standards to streaming as California enforcement begins
The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has updated its A/85 Recommended Practice to extend technical loudness guidance for advertising to streaming platforms and FAST channels. This change, influenced by California's SB 576 legislation, aims to standardize audio levels and prevent perceived volume spikes in ads across digital video services.
Key Takeaways
- Revised A/85 Recommended Practice now includes specific technical guidance for streaming media and FAST linear channels.
- California's SB 576, effective July 2026, mandates that streaming ads not exceed the volume of accompanying program content.
- New technical annexes provide guidance for both metadata-based and non-metadata-based audio codecs to ensure cross-platform consistency.
- The guidance targets a consistent -24 LKFS (±2) audio level, matching long-standing standards for broadcast and cable television.
Why It Matters
The extension of A/85 standards to streaming addresses a major technical gap as the industry pivots toward ad-supported tiers and FAST. While the federal CALM Act historically exempted digital video, the combination of California’s enforcement and ATSC’s technical framework effectively creates a national baseline for audio normalization. For streaming engineers, this necessitates immediate adjustments to server-side and client-side ad insertion workflows to maintain compliance and avoid user churn. Success here will depend on closer coordination between ad tech vendors and content distributors. Watch for the FCC to reference these updated ATSC standards in future federal rulemakings intended to modernize the CALM Act.
Additional Context
The ATSC revision arrives as federal and state regulators intensify their focus on the streaming ad experience. In February 2025, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) specifically investigating its authority to regulate streaming ad volume under the CALM Act. According to the FCC, consumer complaints regarding loud commercials grew from approximately 750 in 2022 to over 1,700 in 2024, signaling that the lack of digital oversight had become a primary friction point for viewers. While groups like the Streaming Innovation Alliance (SIA)—representing Netflix, Disney, and Paramount—argued in April 2025 that the FCC lacks legal authority to regulate streaming directly, the emergence of state legislation has forced a shift toward technical standardization. California’s SB 576, which served as a catalyst for the ATSC update, was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October 2025 with a July 1, 2026, enforcement date. Per Fox Business, the law applies to any service reaching California residents, effectively compelling global platforms to adopt the state’s “quiet ad” standards to avoid fragmented delivery pipelines. This legislative pressure is mirrored internationally; for instance, VideoWeek reported in February 2026 that the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is moving to bring major streamers under Ofcom’s regulatory remit, including stricter content and technical compliance standards similar to traditional broadcast rules. Technically, the updated A/85 documentation introduces tools for re-recording mixers and engineers to handle modern distribution challenges like Dialogue Gate metering on long-form content. Per ATSC documentation from July 2026, the inclusion of a “Loudness and True Peak Quick Reference” is intended to simplify implementation across diverse audio codecs. This effort to standardize audio levels comes as European streaming revenue historically surpassed public TV revenue for the first time in 2024, according to Ampere Analysis, making consistent ad quality a high-stakes priority for the global market.
Read full article at inkl.com
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