It's how they process the sound in advertisements that make them
sound louder. They use digital processing and compression to make the add seem more 'in your face'
Here's a bit from a website:
http://www.freetv.com.au/SiteMedia/w3svc087/Uploads/Documents/f2f4d93a-dad5-4cb4-aff5-5c1c213f5d1e.pdf2.1
Compression
Most advertisement sound tracks are “processed,” whereas in most cases program material is not. Non processed sound is basically that which has originated from a microphone with some minor adjustments to equalise the quality in certain respects such as matching between microphones. On the other hand, material that is processed is passed through devices such as equalisers and compressors, which are designed to enhance its presence ie to make it sound “up close” or brighter or more immediate. This is referred to as “compression”.
Material that has been compressed will sound louder, even though there is no increase in volume. This is because compression of a sound track raises the energy content of the sound by reducing the dynamic range (i.e. the difference between the peaks and the average level of the sound)thereby making it more dense.
2.2
Spectral processing
The human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies in the audible range. As an approximation, the frequencies between 2,000Hz and 4,000Hz are those to which the
ear is most sensitive. If this range of frequencies is boosted at the mixing desk during post production, then this version of the product will sound louder than a version where these frequencies were not boosted. This process of varying the spectral content is known as equalisation.
And I rarely bother with radio these days, 3 X 64GB USB drives keeps me going for quite a while. And even with TV I pre-record and skip through the adds anyway.
