The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) He has opened a public consultation with respect to the sound level of advertisements in audiovisual services. Its objective is, as explained, analyze the application of the regulations that regulate advertising in this aspect and specify the criteria that allow guaranteeing a appropriate auditory experience for spectators.

The agency recalls that the General Audiovisual Communication Law (LGCA) contemplates the ads volume. Specifically article 121.4 specifies that “The sound level of audiovisual commercial communications cannot be higher than the average level of the preceding program “. However, as the CNMC points out, the standard does not specify how to measure said level or what thresholds to consider to determine if there is a breach.

The CNMC points out that it has received Complaints by users andn Relationship to ads with an abnormally high volume compared to the programs in which they appear. Given this, following its facet of audiovisual market supervision, the agency considers pertinent and necessary Define a methodology in order to evaluate sound differences and guarantee compliance with the law.

Therefore, he points out that Public consultation It will be open, until April 30, to audiovisual providers, sound experts, consumer associations and any person or entity interested in the matter. The consultation will focus on how to measure the volume of advertisements, the change of sound level in the different services or how to differentiate the ads.

Thus, it will request the opinion of the users regarding whether the Technical Sound Standards Recommended at European level, and when to consider that it is incurred in non -compliance. He will also ask about how the variation of sound levels could be addressed in different services or what conditions must meet the acoustic mechanisms that mark the start of advertising so that they are not annoying for spectators.

Adaptation to European standards

Regarding How to measure the volumethe CNMC points out that the concept of “Subjective sound perceived by listeners”, Based on the R-128 recommendation rules of the European Radiodifusion Union (UER). This, in turn, follows the guidelines of the International Telecommunications Union (UIT).
“This standardization of loudity would guarantee the consistency in the sound levels of the programs”, Explains the agency in the consultation document.

On the other hand, in what regarding The thresholds, The agency recalls that, when the draft General Law of Audiovisual Communication was analyzed, it has already proposed “Set an absolute sound level that commercial communications may present, notwithstanding that they can issue with a higher level if it allows the average level of the content that precedes it”.

It is a proposal that did not find a hole in the law, but that has been collected in the month of Maro in Royal Decree 250/2025, of March 25, which approves the National Technical Plan of Digital Terrestrial Television. This does establish some audio loudness for programs, But this obligation would only affect DTT broadcasts and leave out linear television channels in open television, to the video on demand and users of special relevance. Radio services and sound services would also be left out at request.

CNMC points out that the law does not require a Sound level concrete in the
Programs of Audiovisual Communication Services providers, so the different programs, whether they are of the same or of different providers, could have disparate average sound levels. In this sense, and with the intention of allowing the insertion of the same announcement, with a certain sound level, in programs with different average sound level, he points out that it could be considered the possibility that the threshold could be more generous in programs with a low sound level, and more strict in programs that already have a high sound level.

Thus, the agency considers “advisable to set a certain sound margin or threshold from which the breach related to the sound level of advertising messages in relation to the programs would be verified“. But “It would be a balance between allowing the advertising message to have a perceptible sound level, but without becoming annoying for the public”

More info.: Public consultation Volume Ads