Are TV commerc ials louder than they used to be?

[zanne]

For the past couple of months, I noticed that if I adjust the volume to be just right, a commercial will come on and blast me out of my chair. Am I becoming hypersensitive to sound or has anybody else noticed this?

[SeattleGirl]

1. I think so. And it seems they are worse on some channels than

on others. USA is really bad. Was watching The Dead Zone on Sunday evening, and kept the remote in my hand so I could hit the volume control as soon as a commercial came on, as they were so loud the poor dog was scared to piece and my ears hurt.

[calico1]

2. I think certain commercials are louder than

others. There is a Best Buy commercial that is VERY loud. I thought it might be my Tv but it was loud on the others too.

[Avalux]

3. I've noticed this recently too.

Especially local commercials, particularly car sales; it's annoying as hell. It's not just you. I fail to understand why though because all it does is piss me off and certainly won't motivate me to run out and buy anything.

[ForrestGump]

5. I haven't seen much TV in the past year, but this volume increase on

commercial breaks has been going on for years. Always irritated the hell out of me.

[ForrestGump]

4. What was that? Pardon?

Yes. And I've heard TV types debunk that, saying that they don't pump up the volume on commercials. Not that this is the first time TV people are trying to tell us what our own senses can plainly tell is not true -- Fox 'News' has made a vocation out of that kind of thing.