What the law says
SB 96 amends two sections of California's Business and Professions Code, 22775 and 22776, and renames the chapter that holds them from video streaming to “Streaming Services”. The operative sentence is new Section 22776: on and after 1 January 2027, a music streaming service, podcast streaming service or video streaming service that serves consumers residing in the state “shall not transmit the audio of commercial advertisements louder than the content the advertisements accompany, consistent with the regulations adopted by the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act”.
Section 22775 keeps the earlier definitions for video. A video streaming service makes video programming, or video content, available directly to consumers over internet protocol. SB 96 adds that the term “includes a user-generated video streaming service”. Television stations, cable operators and services carrying no commercial advertisements remain outside the video definition.
Nothing else is added. There is no definition of a music or podcast streaming service, no measurement standard beyond the reference to the FCC's rules, and no penalty or enforcement section in the amending text.
Recorded floor votes, ayes out of total recorded
Source: California Legislative Information, bill history for SB 96 (2025–26), from the Legislature's public data files.
Approved by the Governor and chaptered on 28 September 2026 as Chapter 735.
Where it comes from
The federal CALM Act of 2010 made the FCC set loudness rules for television broadcasters, cable operators and other multichannel video distributors. The FCC's rules require them to comply with the Advanced Television Systems Committee's A/85 recommended practice “insofar as it concerns the transmission of commercial advertisements”. Streaming services were never covered.
California moved first on video. SB 576, also by Senator Umberg, was signed on 6 October 2025 and, according to coverage at the time, took effect for video streaming on 1 July 2026. SB 96 extends the same rule to audio. As amended, Section 22776 now gives a single start date, 1 January 2027, for all three kinds of service.
Inside Radio reported that Senator Umberg told a January hearing he had experienced a “dramatic amplification of advertisements” on music and podcast services, and that he would not “lose sleep” if publishers chose to adjust loudness nationally rather than for California alone. We did not hear the hearing; those quotations are Inside Radio's.
Who in podcasting must comply?
This section is our reading of the text; it is not legal advice.
A video streaming service is easy to identify: one company encodes the programme, inserts the ads and delivers the stream. Podcasting is split. A show is recorded and mastered by a producer, stored by a hosting company, and often has advertisements stitched into the audio file at the moment of download by the host or a separate ad-insertion platform, which may choose different ads for different listeners. An app such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify then plays the file, or the app's own platform inserts ads into shows it distributes.
The law applies to the service that “transmit[s]” the advertisement and serves Californians. In the dynamic insertion model, the ad is joined to the episode before the app receives it, which points at the hosting or insertion platform. A platform that inserts ads into shows on its own app plainly transmits them. Whether a listening app that only plays a third-party file is itself a “podcast streaming service” is not answered by the text, and neither is the position of a show that sells and reads its own ads.
The phrase “streaming” adds a further question. Many podcast episodes are downloaded rather than streamed. The law does not distinguish between the two.
What “louder” means in practice
Loudness is measured as average perceived loudness over time, in LKFS or LUFS, which are the same unit. The A/85 practice the FCC relies on is built on that measurement. A heavily compressed spot can read the same on an old-style peak meter as the programme around it and still sound much louder; loudness metering is designed to catch exactly that.
Podcasting already has a working norm. Apple's audio guidance recommends that “the overall loudness remains around -16 dB LKFS, with a +/- 1 dB tolerance, and that the true-peak value doesn’t exceed -1 dB FS”, calculated under ITU-R BS.1770-5. Podnews reports that most podcasts it tests sit at -16, that Spotify and YouTube ask for -14, and that broadcast uses -24 in the US. A spot mastered for one of those targets and inserted into a show mastered for another will differ in loudness before anyone intends it to.
The law does not say over what span the comparison is made, or whether a host-read ad recorded in the episode counts as separate from the content it sits in. The FCC framework it points to was written for television, where ads are discrete units with their own metadata.
What advertisers and executive podcasts should do
What follows is our reading.
Master spots to the show, not to the loudest platform. A produced advertisement delivered at -16 LKFS, with true peak at or below -1 dBFS, matches Apple's recommendation and most podcasts. Agencies that deliver one file for radio, streaming music and podcasts should expect to supply versions.
Ask the hosting or insertion platform what it does. Some platforms normalise inserted ads to the episode; others pass files through as delivered. A company that runs its own executive podcast with sponsorship, or buys podcast ads, can ask in writing whether ads are loudness-matched and to what target.
Expect a national effect. Ad files are not usually made for one state. If platforms adjust for California, the practical result is likely to be a single standard everywhere, which is what Senator Umberg said he hoped for.
Host-read ads are less exposed: they are recorded in the host's voice and usually mastered with the episode, which is one more practical argument for them alongside the evidence in our report on host-read and produced spots.
Methodology and limitations
This report is based on the chaptered text of SB 96 (Chapter 735, Statutes of 2026) and its legislative history, both taken from the California Legislature's public data files (downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, update of 29 September 2026) because the leginfo web pages returned an automated-traffic challenge; the text is the version filed on 28 September 2026. We also read the FCC's CALM Act rule for television stations, 47 CFR 73.682(e), and for cable operators, 47 CFR 76.607, through the eCFR; Apple Podcasts' audio requirements page; Podnews's guide to LUFS for podcasters; the Governor's press release on SB 576 of 6 October 2025; and Inside Radio's report of 30 September 2026, the source for Senator Umberg's hearing remarks, which we did not hear ourselves. The 1 July 2026 start date for SB 576 is as reported in press coverage at the time; we did not read SB 576's chaptered text. All read on 5 October 2026. Three limitations apply. The law is not yet in force and no guidance on applying it to podcasting has been issued. Our reading of who must comply is an interpretation of an undefined term. And we did not measure the loudness of any podcast advertisement.
Conclusion
California will require podcast and music streaming services to keep advertisements no louder than the content around them from 1 January 2027, and it passed without a vote against. The rule is short and borrows a television standard written for a single company delivering a single stream. Podcasting divides the job between producers, hosts, ad-insertion platforms and apps, and the law does not say which of them is the podcast streaming service. The practical response is the same whoever turns out to be liable: master spots to the podcast norm of about -16 LKFS, ask platforms whether they normalise inserted ads, and expect the California rule to become the national one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does California limit how loud podcast ads can be?
Yes, from 1 January 2027. SB 96, signed on 28 September 2026, bars music, podcast and video streaming services serving California residents from transmitting the audio of ads louder than the content they accompany, consistent with the FCC's CALM Act rules for television.
What is a podcast streaming service under the law?
The law does not say. It defines a video streaming service but not a music or podcast streaming service, so it is not settled whether the obligation falls on hosting and ad-insertion platforms, listening apps, or both.
What loudness should a podcast ad be?
The law sets no number. Apple recommends podcasts sit around -16 LKFS with a 1 dB tolerance and true peak no higher than -1 dBFS. An ad mastered to match the show it runs in is the practical way to meet a rule that it be no louder than the content.
Does the law apply outside California?
It applies to services serving consumers residing in California. Because ad files are rarely made for one state, platforms may adjust everywhere; the bill's author said he hoped it would become standard practice.
Are host-read ads covered?
The text does not distinguish host-read from produced ads. Host-read ads are usually recorded and mastered with the episode, so they are less likely to differ in loudness from the content around them.
When did the video streaming rule start?
California's earlier law, SB 576, signed on 6 October 2025, covered video streaming and took effect on 1 July 2026 according to press coverage. SB 96 amends the same section and sets 1 January 2027 for music, podcast and video services.
Sources
- official California Legislature, SB 96 (Umberg), Streaming services: commercial advertisements, chaptered text and bill history, Chapter 735, Statutes of 2026, approved 28 September 2026. Read from the Legislature's public data files, update of 29 September 2026. Read 5 October 2026.
- official eCFR, 47 CFR 73.682(e) and 47 CFR 76.607, FCC rules implementing the CALM Act. Read 5 October 2026.
- official Office of the Governor of California, No more loud commercials: Governor Newsom signs SB 576, 6 October 2025. Read 5 October 2026.
- platform documentation Apple Podcasts for Creators, Audio requirements. Read 5 October 2026.
- trade press Inside Radio, California Sets New Volume Limits For Streaming And Podcast Ads, 30 September 2026. Source for Senator Umberg's hearing remarks. Read 5 October 2026.
- trade press Podnews, LUFS and LKFS for podcasters. Source for platform loudness targets other than Apple's. Read 5 October 2026.