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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 232
February Session, 2026
AN ACT CONCERNING STREAMING VIDEO SERVICES AND THE
VOLUME OF COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Cable operator" has the same meaning as provided in 47 USC 522, 2
as amended from time to time; 3
(2) "Commercial advertisement" has the same meaning as such term 4
is used in the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, P.L. 5
111-311, as amended from time to time; 6
(3) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Consumer 7
Protection; 8
(4) "Consumer" means any person who is physically present in this 9
state and is a recipient, or a prospective recipient, of a streaming video 10
service; 11
(5) "Department" means the Department of Consumer Protection; 12
(6) "Multichannel video programming distributor" has the same 13
meaning as provided in 47 USC 522, as amended from time to time; 14
(7) "Person" means any individual, association, corporation, limited 15
liability company, partnership, trust or other legal entity; 16
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(8) "Streaming video service" means any service through which any 17
video content, including, but not limited to, any video programming, is 18
made available directly to consumers through a distribution method 19
that uses the Internet protocol; 20
(9) "Streaming video service provider" or "provider" (A) means any 21
person who makes a streaming video service available directly to 22
consumers, and (B) does not include (i) any television broadcast station, 23
(ii) any multichannel video programming distributor, including, but not 24
limited to, any cable operator, or (iii) any person who makes available 25
any video content, including, but not limited to, any video 26
programming, without commercial advertisements; 27
(10) "Television broadcast station" has the same meaning as provided 28
in 47 USC 325, as amended from time to time; and 29
(11) "Video programming" has the same meaning as provided in 47 30
USC 613, as amended from time to time. 31
(b) On and after July 1, 2027, and except as provided in subsection (c) 32
of this section, no streaming video service provider shall transmit the 33
audio of any commercial advertisement by way of a streaming video 34
service at a volume that is louder than the volume established in the 35
regulations adopted by the Federal Communications Commission for 36
television broadcast stations or multichannel video programming 37
distributors, including, but not limited to, cable operators, pursuant to 38
the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, P.L. 111 -311, 39
as said act and such regulations may be amended from time to time. 40
(c) (1) If a streaming video service provider believes that compliance 41
with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section would pose a 42
significant financial hardship to the provider, the provider may submit 43
a waiver application to the Department of Consumer Protection in a 44
form and manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Consumer 45
Protection. The waiver application shall include: 46
(A) The name and business address of the provider; 47
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(B) A description of the nature and extent of the alleged significant 48
financial hardship and any supporting information or documents; and 49
(C) Any other information or documents the commissioner may 50
reasonably require for the purposes of this subdivision. 51
(2) Not later than thirty days after the department receives a 52
completed waiver application submitted under subdivision (1) of this 53
subsection, the commissioner shall (A) review such application, (B) on 54
the basis of such review and in the commissioner's sole discretion, issue 55
a decision approving or disapproving such application and issuing or 56
not issuing a waiver, and (C) send notice to the streaming video service 57
provider, in a form and manner prescribed by the commissioner, 58
disclosing the commissioner's decision and the basis for such decision. 59
(3) Each waiver issued pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection 60
(A) shall be valid for a period of one year beginning on the date on 61
which the commissioner sends notice to the streaming video service 62
provider disclosing the commissioner's decision to approve such 63
provider's application and issue such waiver, and (B) may be renewed 64
for an additional one -year period (i) upon submission of a waiver 65
renewal application made during the initial waiver period and in the 66
manner set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection for an initial waiver 67
application, and (ii) subject to review and approval by the commissioner 68
in the manner set forth in subdivision (2) of this subsection for review 69
and approval of an initial waiver application. 70
(d) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection may adopt 71
regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the 72
general statutes, to implement the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) 73
of this section. 74
(e) Any violation of the provisions of subsection (b) of this section 75
shall constitute an unfair trade practice for the purposes of subsection 76
(a) of section 42 -110b of the general statutes. The provisions of section 77
42-110g of the general statutes shall not apply to any such violation. 78
Nothing in this section shall be construed as providing the basis for a 79
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private right of action for any violation of subsection (b) of this section. 80
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2026 New section
GL Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO
JUD Joint Favorable
APP Joint Favorable