A new California law taking effect on July 1 will require streaming services to keep their ads from being noticeably louder than the programs they interrupt — closing a long-standing gap between traditional television and the streaming platforms that have overtaken it, TechCrunch reported.
What the law does
The measure, SB 576, extends to streaming the principle behind the federal Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, which since 2012 has barred TV commercials from blaring above the average loudness of surrounding programming. That federal law, however, applied only to broadcast and cable — leaving the booming world of internet streaming untouched. California's law, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in late 2025, fills that gap for services operating in the state.
Who it covers
The rules apply to streaming services that show advertising to California viewers — from the ad-supported tiers of major platforms to free, ad-funded services. Ad-free subscriptions are unaffected. The fast-growing world of free, ad-supported streaming, which stitches in commercials from many different sources, is expected to face the biggest technical adjustment.
Why it matters
The problem the law targets is one almost every viewer recognizes: a quiet scene gives way to an ad that suddenly makes you lunge for the remote. According to TechCrunch, the bill's origins are fittingly domestic — it was prompted in part by a legislative staffer whose baby kept being woken by loud streaming ads. With streaming now the dominant way Americans watch, the annoyance the CALM Act once tamed had simply migrated to a medium the old rules did not reach.
Enforcement and limits
Enforcement falls to the California attorney general's office, which will handle complaints; under a late amendment that helped soften industry opposition, the law does not allow private lawsuits. Compliance is not trivial: streaming ads are inserted by numerous ad-tech vendors using different loudness standards, and viewers watch across a jumble of devices — phones, tablets, TVs and soundbars — each reproducing sound differently. Industry groups that initially resisted the bill dropped their opposition after the enforcement terms were narrowed.
A patchwork forming
California is the first state to act, but probably not the last: Illinois has passed a similar measure due to take effect in 2027, and a federal bill to extend the CALM Act to streaming has been proposed but has not advanced. For national streaming companies, that raises the prospect of a state-by-state patchwork of loudness rules — and, for viewers in California at least, the welcome prospect of quieter commercials.
