ONT denies broadcasting excessively loud commercials

Alina Pravatorava, spokeswoman for Belarus' ONT television channel, has denied allegations that commercials are broadcast louder than other programs in violation of regulations currently in force.

She added that she was unaware of the trade ministry's lawsuit against the channel.

"We have not yet been notified of the legal action and we do not know anything about the trade ministry's intensions. Our technicians say that loudness levels, which we also measure, are in line with the legally stipulated limits," Pravatorava told Euroradio.

Belarus' trade ministry brought legal action against several television channels over obnoxiously loud commercials following complaints from TV viewers, Telegraf reported with reference to Yezhednevnik.

The trade ministry filed the lawsuits after metrology experts found that commercials on STV, RTR, ONT, NTV-Belarus, Channel 8 and First Music Channel were 1-2.5 dB louder than other broadcasts.