As anticipated by the Commission (and reported by us), Advanced Television Systems Committee, Inc. has approved a successor to its A/85 Recommended Practice (A/85 RP). Making it official, the Commission has issued a public notice alerting us all to the availability of the new version.
As we have also previously reported, Congress has ordered the Commission to incorporate A/85 RP into its rules in an effort to turn down the volume on “loud” commercials. The Commission, in turn, has dutifully proposed to amend its rules to include A/85 RP. But the initial comment date in that proceeding had already come and gone before the FCC announced that ATSC was expected to announce a “successor” to the version of A/85 RP described in the Commission’s NPRM. Not to worry – there’s still an opportunity to address the New and Improved version in reply comments. The Commission thoughtfully extended the deadline for reply comments in order to give interested parties the chance to mull over the new A/85 RP.
But don’t be mulling too long. The extended reply comment deadline is August 1 – six days from now.
