TV Q&A: Why is the background music so loud on TV?

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review.

Q: I love “Chicago Med,” but the background music is so loud it drowns out the conversations. Why is this and is this really necessary?

— Fran, via email

Q: Why is the music so loud on some TV shows that you can hardly hear the talking? Very hard on hearing-impaired people who want to watch a show.

— Maureen, via email

Rob: “Why is the background music so loud?” remains the No. 1 most-asked question I’ve received in two decades of writing a TV Q&A column, so every now and then I feel obliged to revisit it, despite having answered it previously.

When I first answered the question, a UPMC audiologist suggested that the part of hearing that can distinguish dialogue from background noise/music is often the first part of a person’s hearing to fail.

But in the interim, the switch to digital television, more high-tech sound options by those who produce TV shows and increased consumer adoption of ever-better TV sets (first digital, then hi-def, now 4K) with ever-improving visuals — but perhaps not ever-improving sound systems — have led to an increase in complaints about sound.

The issue of sound getting muddied in the home may be related to producers working to make the sound optimal for high-end equipment, but if a viewer does not have a commensurate high-end TV sound system, the sound gets compacted and worsens.

There’s no way for me to know in any individual instance the cause of sound issues, whether it is the listener or their TV set or the way the sound was made and then compacted for distribution, but some TV viewers report they’ve improved the quality of sound on their TVs by adjusting the audio settings and/or adding a sound bar.

Related

• TV Q&A: Will British actor use American accent on 'CIA' show?
• TV Q&A: Did a local broadcaster borrow a catchphrase?
• TV Q&A: Is there a clear TV season anymore?

Q: What’s up with the volume on television? When I have the news on, I have to turn up the volume. Then the commercials come on and it’s blasting the sound. I have Comcast as my provider. I thought that the government took care of that years ago?

— Jeff, via email

Rob: Yes, the FCC says, “TV stations are prohibited from boosting the average volume of commercials to levels beyond the programs they accompany.” However, per the FCC, “If you are experiencing spikes in volume with both programming and commercials, you may be able to change the settings on your television or home theater system to help stabilize overall loudness. Many televisions and home theater systems have features to control loudness, such as automatic gain control, audio compression, or audio limiters, that can be turned on to provide a more consistent volume level across programs and commercials. These functions usually need to be activated through the equipment’s “Set Up/Audio” menu.

“Some commercials with louder and quieter moments may still seem ‘too loud’ to some viewers but are still in compliance because average volume is the rule.”

Viewers can always file a complaint against a TV station at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=33794.

Q: When will “Battlebots” return and on which network?

— Wendy, via email

Rob: Discovery Channel, which aired “Battlebots” most recently, as far as I am aware, would only say it currently does not have any new episodes of “Battlebots” on the schedule.

The “where to watch” page at Battlebots.com hasn’t been updated since before a new season aired on Discovery in 2018, so my sense is this is a dormant TV franchise, but they do have a live show in Las Vegas.