ITV3 adverts were too loud

The advertising regulator has ruled that eight lots of adverts shown on the digital TV channel ITV3, during an episode of Sherlock Holmes, broke the regulations on volume.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) stated that the adverts were loud.

Although many of the digital TV broadcasters have been working to keep the noise levels down, some of the channels show older programmes with different sound levels, which can cause adverts to sound louder.

ITV3 claimed that all of their adverts are checked using a loudness meter to ensure that they fall within the current guidelines.

There have always been complaints about sound levels and in 2008 the rules were tightened up even further to make sure that adverts are not too noisy or excessively strident.