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While watching TV, have you ever heard the volume increase when your show jumped to a commercial break?

The volume increase could have been the result of systems that hadn’t normalized the content based on the loudness.

Citing industry officials, the Los Angeles Times reported that due to the switch to digital TV in the United States in 2009, “the higher fidelity sound made the commercials seem even louder.” In 2006, the ITU-R had created a loudness algorithm (referred to as BS.1770-#, which nowadays has five variants) to help make sure commercials were not blaringly louder than the programs they were accompanying.

That algorithm makes “Loudness Units relative to Full Scale” (LUFS), also known as “Loudness, K-weighted, relative to Full Scale” (LKFS). LKFS is technically an amplitude level, but it’s not just the measure of an electrical signal. It’s an attempt to measure how humans perceive the loudness of broadcast audio.

This graph represents the filter applied to the raw audio input so it can be adjusted to compensate for how humans perceive the loudness of different frequencies. K-weighting is part of the equation used to determine the LKFS value. It has two parts— the first is weighting different frequencies based on how loud they’re perceived. The second is modeled after the “acoustic effect” of the human head.

Here’s an analogy to help you understand LKFS: audio level is to LKFS what temperature is to wind chill temperature (or heat index). Humans don’t perceive low frequencies as sounding as loud as they actually are, but they perceive high pitched sounds to be louder than they actually are. That’s why high pitched sounds have a higher K-weighting.  

The loudness algorithm the ITU-R created was not implemented in the United States until a few years later. In 2010, Congress passed the CALM Act. The law came into effect on December 13, 2012. It stipulates that in relation to the TV programs they are accompanying, all commercials must have their average loudness adjusted to be within a fairly narrow range of a fixed target. The law only applies to television programming—it does not apply to radio or internet programming. 

For compliance, the law points broadcasters, cable operators, satellite TV providers, and other multichannel video programming distributors to the ATSC A/85 RP.

A/85 RP stipulates the use of ITU-R BS.1770-1 in the United States. It also recommends the adoption of a fixed target loudness of -24 LKFS. Annex I.7 of the ATSC A/85 RP states that there should be a fixed target loudness of -24 LKFS, + or - 2 dB.

A/85 RP also notes requirements other than loudness, one example being dialnorm. Dialnorm means “dialogue normalization.” Dialnorm specifies the average dialogue level for audio in absolute terms. Say you’re going from your main program to a commercial. The main program features soft-spoken people, whereas the commercial features loud people. On playback, the consumer receiver would automatically modulate the low dialogue up, and the loud dialogue down.

A visual representation of how dialnorm works with a consumer cable box.

Luckily, as Dave Moulton wrote in TV Technology, if you’re using dialnorm, “you don’t need to worry very much about LKFS, because properly implemented dialnorm will pretty much take care of it for you.”

It’s important to stay on the right side of the CALM Act. If viewers complain to the FCC about your organization’s loudness level, and the FCC notices a pattern of complaints, it will start an inquiry or investigation for your organization. If there is an investigation, you’ll have to spend time proving that your equipment, and how you’ve maintained it, is in line with the law. If you don’t show actual or ongoing compliance in response to the inquiry or investigation, you may have to pay a fine.

Having a record of exactly what your programming sounded like when it aired will save you hassle and frustration. You will quickly be able to gather evidence and respond to viewer complaints.

Loudness compliance is easy with Moco: Compliance Monitoring by SnapStream. We provide TV stations, networks, and other broadcasters solutions for logging and monitoring loudness. 

Are you curious about the present and future plans of SnapStream? Who better to ask than the CEO and Founder himself!

On Thursday, June 26th, at 9:45am CT, Stephanie Ruhle from Bloomberg TV's "Market Makers" interviewed SnapStream's CEO, Rakesh Agrawal. During this interview Rakesh explains how SnapStream technology is able to search anything said on TV - helping out the likes of corporate firms, federal and government agencies and, of course, television shows such as "The Daily Show" and "Last Week Tonight."

Rakesh also announces the future plans of SnapStream. (Hint: Anyone into social media? We thought so!)

Tune in! (Run Time: 7 minutes)

First and foremost, let me start by saying, “Welcome to the family “Last Week Tonight,” John Oliver, and the entire team of producers, editors, and show writers!”

In case you haven’t heard, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” selected SnapStream’s TV recording and search technology to help build the TV clips and content that will be used on the show. (Here is the press release)

Need an example? Next time you tune in (the show airs every Sunday on HBO) watch for the pop-up TV clips that John Oliver references throughout the show. Those clips are pulled using SnapStream!

How They Use SnapStream

With SnapStream’s technology, the team at “Last Week Tonight” is able to quickly search and aggregate mass amounts of current, often obscure, TV content from worldwide sources. This technology, along with John Oliver’s undeniable genius for political satire, is the perfect equation for comedic gold.

Just ask Ari Fishman, a producer at “Last Week Tonight” who said,

“SnapStream has proven itself to be the premiere product for high-volume television recording and search capabilities.

We are hoping to achieve an extensive SnapStream footage archive that we can effectively use as our primary research tool. SnapStream keyword searches makes it a very organized user experience, and we anticipate growing our SnapStream library. All of our producers [are] confident in SnapStream’s capabilities.”

A Favorite Among Many Shows and Networks

“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” is not alone in their hunt for an efficient way to find and repurpose specific TV content. They join a host of successful shows and networks including “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “The Colbert Report,” “E! News” and “The Arsenio Hall Show,” to name a few. All of these shows, and many more, use SnapStream’s clipping, content repurposing, and archival for their shows.

In fact, SnapStream is known throughout the broadcast and network industries for its ability to quickly research interesting commentary, news trends, and comparative talking points.

Here is what some of our current clients have said recently:

“It would be impossible to generate the amount of content our show requires without a [technology] like SnapStream. The immediacy with which we can research and distribute video has been invaluable to our creative process." - The Colbert Report

“Night in and night out, SnapStream helps us create the freshest monologues in late night.” - The Arsenio Hall Show

“SnapStream is a single solution for creating and packaging aired content for distribution to advertisers.” - MLB Network

So next time you tune into “Last Week Tonight”, or any of the other shows mentioned, wow your friends and family by letting them in on the secret behind those TV clip pop-ups - SnapStream’s TV search technology.

Next week, we're heading to the Big Apple to showcase our TV monitoring technology at Content and Communications World (CCW). Many broadcast folks refer to this hallmark event as the NAB of the East Coast. Since NAB in April, SnapStream's engineers have been diligently working to launch SnapStream 6.0 and tons of new capabilities.

Whether you're a current user or considering SnapStream for the first time, you'll find that everything in the new version helps to enrich your production workflow for recording, searching, clipping and repurposing TV content.

What's new to see at CCW?

AirPlay, search, clip and share TV from your iPad
Collaborate using SnapStream's iPad app during your production meetings. Use AirPlay to display TV recordings and clips from your library in H.264. You can also run searches, create clips and share them in the cloud. Enjoy all of these features on the go, with the mobility and convenience of the iPad.

View multiple channels simultaneously
SnapStream's new multi-viewer enables you to watch up to four content streams simultaneously for a multitude of workflow applications, such as comparing what's airing on your competitors' channels at the same time.

Watch TV and read the transcript, side by side
Monitor the broadcast video and televised transcript in a new interactive way, using Snapstream's new auto-scrolling transcript. Click on any keyword in the text to jump to it. Skip from one keyword mention to the next. Resize the windows to switch your focus from reading to watching, or keep it right at 50/50.

Monitor TV live and fullscreen
Enjoy the ability to track live, real-time events and freely flip between channels without recording anything to disk. Use the new fullscreen option to expand the video display for presentations or just to get a closer look.

Want to schedule a meeting?

CCW takes places at the Javits Convention Center in New York City, Nov. 13 and 14. SnapStream will be at booth 753 (see map below). We recommend setting an appointment with us in advance: schedule a meeting here. But, you are also welcome to swing by anytime during the show hours. See you there!

If you've heard of SnapStream's TV monitoring technology, you've likely heard The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report mentioned in the same breath. While we can't take credit for Jon Stewart's acerbic on-air personality or Stephen Colbert's deadpan delivery, we can say one thing: we are the television search technology behind the news-driven humor.

Yup, our very own closed-captioning search technology is at work on the TV production sets of both of these Emmy-award-winning shows. For this reason, we at SnapStream have a special place in our hearts for the TV genre of news satire, or "fake news." So, this got us thinking, when did this trend come into vogue? Are there mock newscast shows in other countries? Who are The Daily Show equivalents worldwide? It turns out, The Daily Show's international impact is pretty astounding.

First let's flash back: The 1960s marked the era of Britain's satire boom in broadcast, with the groundbreaking That Was the Week That Was on BBC. In 1975, Saturday Night Live took off in the U.S. with its mock newscast "Weekend Update," which continues today as the show's longest-running recurring sketch. Then came HBO's Not Necessarily the News (1983-1990). Fast-forward to 1999, when The Daily Show with Jon Stewart first entered America's living rooms.

The Daily Show took a trailblazing comedic direction, focusing on politics, current events and the hypocrisy underlying it all. The show's editorial voice has become deeply influential to our society, confirmed in a phenomenon called "The Daily Show Effect," according to American Politics Research. Look at the books written about the topic, too! (See: News Parody and Political Satire Across the Globe)

In 2002, CNN International began airing The Daily Show: Global Edition to overseas audiences, spawning syndication and fan bases in dozens of other countries. There's one official franchise in the Netherlands, The Daily Show (Nederlandse Editie). As a result, broadcasters all over the world have created their own localized spin-offs of The Daily Show, embracing the "infotainment" format and stylings of Jon Stewart.

Here's a clip of Jon Stewart appearing on the The Daily Show: Netherlands Edition, hosted by Jan Jaap van der Wal.

Up next, we will get to know the TV shows outside the U.S. similar to The Daily Show and The Colbert Report:

• Caiga Quien Caiga
• Custe o Que Custar
• Le Iene
• Striscia la notizia
• Heute-Show
• Al-Bernameg
• Parazit
• This Hour Has 22 Minutes
• Rick Mercer Report
• Week Thus Far
• Have I Got News For You
• Eretz Nehederet
• If I Were Prime Minister
• Russell Howard's Good News
• 10 O'Clock Live
• Good News Week

Stay tuned!

See related posts:

• The Daily Show equivalents in South America and Italy
• Medley of Fake News “Daily Shows” in Canada, the UK and Australia
• News Parody Lights Up TV in Europe, the Middle East and Asia

Today is the day! At the 2011 International Broadcasting Convention, Europe's largest professional broadcast show, SnapStream will premiere its best-of-breed TV recording and search capabilities on the world's stage, Hall 6, Stand 6.A06. This is a highly anticipated moment by many, and I mean MANY. Every day, we receive messages from organizations all over the world, looking to enlist SnapStream to solve their TV monitoring problems (which include costly clipping services and traditional, subscription-based media monitoring services).

The international distinction, or technical hurdle, has long been the varying digital broadcast standards native to each country. For example: In the U.S. and Canada, it's ATSC. In Europe, it's DVB-T and PAL. We soon discovered it wasn't going to be a simple migration to transfer the complexity of SnapStream's architecture over to these foreign standards.

Luckily, our engineers are incredibly smart people! So it's in due course that our team is now on the ground in Amsterdam, showcasing the first prototype of our European TV monitoring technology. The new SnapStream adds support for PAL and early support for DVB-T. Subtitles and teletext searching will be incorporated into a subsequent release.

If you're at the Amsterdam RAI, Septemeber 9 - 13, you'll see up close how SnapStream enables organizations to record, log and search traditional TV (terrestrial, cable or satellite), all over the LAN.

Today, our powerful TV monitoring platform is used by hundreds of broadcasters, production studios, educators and governments across North America. Now, European organizations will soon be able to leverage SnapStream's robust capabilities:

- Record large amounts of TV, from 4 channels to 50 channels or... more!
- Archive an unlimited amount of TV shows with expandable storage
- Access TV over the LAN from any LAN connected PC with a web browser
- Perform real-time keyword searches of subtitles (where available)
- Easily create, download and e-mail TV clips
- Receive TV e-mail alerts of specific mentions
- Watch TV from any PC on the network
- Transcode TV files seamlessly and quickly to WMV and H.264 formats

If you're not going to be at the show, contact us to set up a Web demo and to glean additional information.

Join us for our web seminar (June 23rd, 2:30 PM CST) specific for the communications offices of elected officials, and learn how your office can leverage TV content to interact with your constituents in a more responsive and efficient way.

Many government officials across the country are currently using SnapStream to aid them with television media monitoring. They are able to simultaneously record news channels (including CSPAN, CNN, Fox News, etc.) plus any internal cable TV feeds 24×7 and then search the closed-caption text for keyword mentions to keep track of legislation issues and media appearances. And with the relaxation of the Franking Rules this past January, they can now take advantage of SnapStream's clipping feature to increase their online video presence by uploading video clips to their YouTube, House or Senate page.

SnapStream is currently used in the offices of elected officials to:

• Track TV mentions of officials, staff and legislation
• Create clips for online distribution
• Distribute TV using the existing office network
• Record & search thousands of hours of TV
• Eliminate manual search of video tapes and clipping fees

When compared to TiVos/DVRs, VCRs or clipping services, SnapStream provides dramatic improvements in cost and convenience.

Event: How Elected Officials Enhance their Media Monitoring Efforts
When: June 23rd, 2009; 2:30 CST

Sign me Up!

Tired of managing VCRs or TiVo’s? Looking for a better way to monitor press coverage? Register for our special web seminar geared towards Public Information Officers in government. The City of Austin will be the guest speaker and will be discussing how they were able to cut the costs associated with maintaining 12 unreliable VCRs by moving to a more cost-effective, unified solution – the SnapStream Server.

The City of Austin will discuss how they:

• Digitally record and archive all TV coverage
• Allow cross-departmental access to those recordings
• Instantaneously pinpoint mentions of interest
• Create clips from full recordings
• Use past coverage for training purposes
• Monitor newscasts
• Create daily media reports
• Respond appropriately and quickly to TV coverage

Event: Learn how the City of Austin monitors TV
When: June 2nd, 2009; 2:30 CST
Guest Speaker: City of Austin

Sign me Up!

SnapStream will be at NAB this year again, to demonstrate our new products and features. Come by and see us at our booth, South Upper Hall #SU6105 (Map)

The new products and features we’ll be demonstrating:

• QAM/ATSC Support: Record, search and clip QAM and ATSC broadcasts.
• Email Clip: Create a clip and email it using the Viewscape or Admin interface.
• Real-Time Search: Search for mentions of interest as they are being recorded.
• SnapStream Mini TV Search Appliance: For smaller organizations that stand to gain from searching television, but don't need the full functionality of the SnapStream Server.

NABShow
April 17–23, 2009 • Las Vegas, NV
The NAB Show has evolved over the last eight decades to continually lead this ever-changing industry. And while the solutions at your fingertips have changed to keep pace with consumer lifestyles, habits and technologies, your aspirations to produce and deliver memorable content have remained consistent. From conception through distribution, the NAB Show has proudly served as the incubator for excellence – helping to breathe life into content everywhere.
www.nabshow.com

Governments use SnapStream to monitor television for a variety of reasons. In most government uses, it’s the PIOs who are using SnapStream to keep themselves, and thus the public, informed about issues that relate to the governing of the city and the reaction of the media to those issues. It is the responsibility of the PIOs to track events, issues and people relating to their specific department/agency.

So as the PIO, you are responsible for being spokespeople for the City and for coordinating all other communications activities with the media and citizens. Being able to respond quickly to coverage relating to your city is key. SnapStream servers allow you to do just that. Using the TV search function, you can find whatever you’re looking for immediately, without having to scan through hours of media coverage manually.

The SnapStream Servers also give you the ability to edit out just the segment you need and then email that clip. You can even have an email alert sent to you notifying you of mentions of whatever it is you’re looking for. Read more about SnapStream email alerts.

Do More With Less. With SnapStream, administrators can easily control who has access to the server and what features they have access to. For a lot of government groups, for example, access to media recordings is limited to one centralized group, and so those departments that have access are often overloaded with requests for copies of news coverage – which is both time-consuming and expensive.

By using SnapStream Servers to streamline your media monitoring efforts, you can:

• Improve reaction time to media coverage
• Eliminate costs of VHS tapes and shipping
• Give access to multiple departments; reducing unnecessary strain on one centralized group

Recently, The City of Austin was a guest speaker for a webinar we held on the benefits of using SnapStream for government media monitoring. Reyne Telles, the Media Relation Manager at “Corporate PIO” says that as the City of Austin has been on a hiring freeze and his team has been short-staffed, SnapStream has enabled his group to do more with less. Read more about how the City of Austin is using SnapStream.