California has passed a new law requiring streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, and YouTube to keep commercial volumes the same as regular content.
The legislation, Senate Bill 576, was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday and will take effect starting July 2026.
The bill, introduced by State Senator Tom Umberg in February, was inspired by complaints about excessively loud streaming ads. Umberg said the law was motivated by “every exhausted parent who’s finally gotten a baby to sleep, only to have a blaring streaming ad undo all that hard work.”
The new rule is modeled after the federal Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, which already regulates ad volumes for traditional TV broadcasters. However, streaming services were not covered under that law—until now.
Governor Newsom said the measure reflects what Californians want. “We heard Californians loud and clear,” he said. “By signing SB 576, California is dialing down this inconvenience across streaming platforms.”
Given California’s major influence on the U.S. entertainment industry, this move could prompt similar legislation across other states, potentially setting a new national standard for ad volume control in the streaming era.
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