American Cable Association President and CEO Matthew M. Polka issued the following statement regarding the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, which took effect on Dec. 13 -- one year to the day after adoption of the Federal Communications Commission's implementing regulations.

"The American Cable Association applauds Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), authors of the CALM Act, for addressing the problem of loud TV commercials with proportional regulations that correctly took into account the concerns of small cable operators, few of whom have control over the volume of the commercials embedded in the programming streams heard by their subscribers.

"Rep. Eshoo and Sen. Whitehouse correctly recognized that the industry had developed recommended practices for avoiding the annoyances of loud commercials, but these practices were not being closely followed by some industry participants.  As implemented by the FCC, the CALM Act will result in industry participants with the most control over TV commercial volume levels adhering more closely to these recommended practices -- all to the benefits of consumers.

"We salute Rep. Eshoo and Sen. Whitehouse for their legislation that is a big win for all TV viewers."