Commercials on TV have long been known for cranking up the volume. Lately Hulu has taken it to a new level. As soon as the little “ad” symbol appears in the upper right, the volume jumps an ear splitting amount.

Complaints to Hulu are as effective as complaints to the local school board.

Thank god for closed captions

And there's just so many commercials on Hulu, almost to the point of a longer commercial break than you get of show content.

No different than those annoying commercials for Deal Dash.
The “testimonials” get louder, I hit the mute button anytime I see one of their commercials.

Some years back, regular TV suffered from the same crap and I believe legislation was passed to stop this practice on live TV. The same law needs to be expanded to any streaming TV. I am very fast with the mute button on my Apple TV Remote.

I am one of those people who think the “science” of advertising has long been oversold. I don’t buy things I see on tv hardly ever. I mute commercials as soon as they start so I don’t even hear them. Even if I remember a jingle I rarely associate it with the item. With Hulu I literally have a countdown to when I have to look up from whatever I’m doing during a commercial break.

One day someone is going to realize how much money is being lost and send profits through the roof.

I know some commercials work on some level, I just think their actual value is way over valued.

Hulu has an ad free subscription, you can pay a little more per month and zero ads.

https://www.hulu.com/no-ads

that was my first thought, what adds?

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Hulu has an ad free subscription, you can pay a little more per month and zero ads.

https://www.hulu.com/no-ads

Doesn’t apply to live TV. Various forums are full of Hulus convoluted explanations for why you’re seeing commercials and why you can’t fast forward thru them

Check you TVs settings. There might be an audio option that help equalizer volume

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:
Some years back, regular TV suffered from the same crap and I believe legislation was passed to stop this practice on live TV. The same law needs to be expanded to any streaming TV. I am very fast with the mute button on my Apple TV Remote.

Not just network TV and streaming services, but radio as well. Most stations do it to some degree, but our small local Salem Radio Network station is the worst violator of this. It's bad enough to have to repeatedly endure the same small handful of commercials pumped up volume every few minutes but when they run their deep voice guy station promos extolling the network's virtues they crank the volume up yet even higher...made obscenely worse when I wear headphones.

I've got the radio positioned near the recliner just so that I can reach for the volume knob and turn the sound down the moment the content goes to break.

The radio stations have one sound volume level for show content, a louder one for commercials, an even louder one for station promos, and another much quieter one for news/ WX/ traffic.

A few years ago I was invited to participate in a paid survey of radio stations, over a ratings period of time and requiring that I keep a journal of listening. I made the mistake of taking the survey seriously, thinking that the stations were seeking real feedback in an attempt to improve, and that I might actually be able to help improve the content. At one point during the ratings period I actually called the survey participant hotline to get clarification on a survey question.

I kept an extensive journal over the survey period and was brutally honest about both various stations and shows, but tried to give both positive and negative feedback. One of my noted complaints was the commercial break sound high volume levels.

Think I ticked them off with my comments because after I sent my journal to them I never received final payment for completing the survey or even so much as a 'thanks for participating'.

As long as TV and radio can get away with pumping the volume up in order to sell or promote they'll continue to do so.

I wonder if viewers/ listeners could start a class action lawsuit complaining of hearing damage from this practice?

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:
I can reach for the volume knob and turn the sound down the moment the content goes to break.

What is this "volume knob" you speak of?

^^^^


It's a 20 + year old sound system that was a gift. I managed to lose the remote control for it during an unplanned and rushed move years ago. Truth be told, it is starting to show its age... but because it was a gift, and because it still produces fantastic sound and especially because it has a number of features included in it that aren't commonly found on today's sound systems, I'm hesitant to replace it...

...and so I'm forced into the antiquated and tedious nuisance of adjusting the volume knob. Arcane a practice though it may be, but one endeavours to persevere.

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:

I managed to lose the remote control

Would something like a Logitech Harmony do the job for you?

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:

I managed to lose the remote control

Would something like a Logitech Harmony do the job for you?

I wasn't familiar with the Logitech Harmony universal remote controller so I did a quick search on the Logitech site and, surprisingly, it indicates my 20 + year old stereo system is compatible with their remote. But I don't have a Smart anything in the place, no Bluetooth or Alexa or lights/ thermostat etc... and my stereo system is no wheres worthy of a $400-$500 universal remote. Hell, even brand new, I doubt my sound system was worth anywheres close to that.

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:

I wasn't familiar with the Logitech Harmony universal remote controller so I did a quick search on the Logitech site . . . $400-$500 universal remote.

$400?

There are a lot of different Harmony models. I have a pretty basic one, the Harmony 650. It did not cost me one tenth of the price that you mentioned. It controls either of two TVs, a TiVo DVR, and a RoKu box.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:

I wasn't familiar with the Logitech Harmony universal remote controller so I did a quick search on the Logitech site . . . $400-$500 universal remote.

$400?

There are a lot of different Harmony models. I have a pretty basic one, the Harmony 650. It did not cost me one tenth of the price that you mentioned. It controls either of two TVs, a TiVo DVR, and a RoKu box.

Hmm, I ran a cursory search and a couple of the top listings were for Smart Harmony variants from Amazon @ $549 & Best Buy @ $399. As soon as I saw that they were network and Bluetooth capable and saw the prices I figured the Harmony line was waaay more remote than I needed. Adjusting a volume knob really isn't that big a hassle for me, but I'll look further into the Harmony line and see if I can find a better option for my use.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Will this one work for you?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/11546...3:g:1rIAAOSwOwdi1d4t

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Will this one work for you?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/11546...3:g:1rIAAOSwOwdi1d4t

I missed seeing your post earlier, sorry for the reply delay. Looks like that item is sold now, but I'll keep an eye out. Thanks again for your efforts.

I’ve got a small soundbar on a TV because of the TV’s under powered rear firing speaker. It has a selectable output leveling feature which helps minimize audio amplitude variations. Might try something like that to tamp down loud commercials.