Max Headroom broadcast signal

intrusion
An unidentified man dressed to resemble Max
Headroom was visible in the intruding broadcast.
Date November 22, 1987
Location WGN-TV
WTTW
Participants Unidentified
Outcome Unsolved
Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion was a television signal hijacking that occurred
in Chicago, Illinois, on the evening of November 22, 1987. It is an example of what is known in the
television business as broadcast signal intrusion. The intruder was successful in interrupting two
broadcast television stations within the course of three hours. Neither the hijacker nor any
accomplices have ever been found or identified.
Contents
1 WGN-TV
2 WTTW
3 Reaction
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
WGN-TV
The first occurrence of the signal intrusion took place during then-independent station WGN-TV (channel 9)'s live telecast of its primetime newscast, The
Nine O'Clock News (now known as WGN News at Nine). During Chicago Bears highlights in the sports report, the station's signal was interrupted for
about half a minute by a video of a person wearing a Max Headroom mask,
[1]
moving around in front of a sheet of corrugated metal, which imitated the
background effect used in the Max Headroom TV and movie appearances. There was no audio other than a buzzing noise. The hijack was stopped after
engineers at WGN switched the frequency of their studio link to the John Hancock Center transmitter.
[2]
The incident left sports anchor Dan Roan bemused, saying, "Well, if you're wondering what happened, so am I."
[3]
WTTW
Later that night, around 11:15 p.m. Central Time, during a broadcast of the Doctor Who serial Horror of Fang Rock, PBS member station WTTW
(channel 11)'s signal was hijacked using the same video that was broadcast during the WGN-TV hijack, this time with distorted audio.
[1]
The person in
the Max Headroom mask appeared, as before, this time saying, "That does it. He's a freakin' nerd," before giggling "Yeah, I think I'm better than Chuck
Swirsky. Freakin' liberal."
[3]
The unidentified man continued to laugh and utter various random and unrelated phrases, including New Coke's advertising slogan "Catch the Wave"
while holding a Pepsi can (Max Headroom was a Coca-Cola spokesperson at the time), then tossing the can down, and giving the finger wearing a
rubber extension over his middle finger (the gesture was cut off at the bottom of the screen due to the proximity of the camera) then retrieving the Pepsi
can, and saying "Your love is fading," before removing the rubber extension, then began humming the theme song to Clutch Cargo, saying, "I still see the
X!" (a reference to the final episode of the Clutch Cargo cartoon series) He began moaning painfully, crying "my piles!" (hemorrhoids), then a flatulence
sound was heard and he stated that he had "made a giant masterpiece for all the greatest world newspaper nerds" (the WGN call letters used by the
Chicago television station as well as its sister radio station are an abbreviation for "World's Greatest Newspaper," in reference to the flagship newspaper
of their corporate parent, the Tribune Company's Chicago Tribune). He then held up a glove and said, "My brother is wearing the other one," and he
put the glove on, commenting that it was "dirty", and made some other comments.
The picture suddenly cut over to a shot of the man's lower torso. His buttocks were exposed, and he was holding the now-removed mask up to the
camera (with the rubber extension now placed in the mouth of the mask), howling, "They're coming to get me!" An unidentified accomplice wearing a
French maid outfit then said "Bend over, bitch" and spanked the man with a flyswatter. The transmission then blacked out for a few seconds before
resuming to Doctor Who in progress; the hijack lasted for about 90 seconds.
[3]
WTTW, which maintained its transmitter atop the Sears Tower, found that its engineers were unable to stop the hijacker. According to station
spokesman Anders Yocom, technicians monitoring the transmission "attempted to take corrective measures, but couldn't."
[4]
"By the time our people
began looking into what was going on, it was over," he told the Chicago Tribune. WTTW was able to find copies of the hijacker's telecast with the help
of Doctor Who fans who had been taping the show.
[2]
Reaction
WTTW and WGN-TV joined HBO (which had a similar incident occur 20 months earlier) as victims of broadcast signal intrusion.
[5]
The Max
Headroom incident made national headlines and was reported on the CBS Evening News the next day. WTTW received numerous phone calls from
viewers who wondered what was occurring for the duration of the station being targeted.
[6]
Not long after the incident, WMAQ-TV humorously inserted clips of the hijacking into a newscast during Mark Giangreco's sports highlights. "A lot of
people thought it was for real the pirate cutting into our broadcast. We got all kinds of calls about it," said Giangreco.
[7]
See also
Southern Television broadcast interruption
Captain Midnight (HBO)
References
1. ^
a

b
Hayner, Don (1987-11-24). "2 channels interrupted to the Max" (http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3857222.html). Chicago Sun-Times. p. 3.
CHI265386. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
2. ^
a

b
Camper, John and Steve Daley (1987-11-24). "A powerful prankster could become Max Jailroom". Chicago Tribune. p. 1.
3. ^
a

b

c
"Remember, Remember the 22nd of November" (http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=776). Damn Interesting. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
4. ^ Carmody, John (1987-11-24). "NBC Lands Gorbachev Interview (The TV Column)". Washington Post. p. D1. 95520.
5. ^ "Bogus 'Max Headroom' Interrupts Broadcasts On 2 Chicago Stations" (http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?
p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-
0=0EB29DADD081E2CE&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM). Philadelphia Inquirer. 1987-11-
24. p. C05. 8703130089. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
6. ^ The Associated Press (November 24, 1987). "Bogus Max Headroom pirates 2 TV stations, drops his pants" (http://news.google.com/newspapers?
id=KSYuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=D88FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3352,59889&dq=max+headroom&hl=en). The Palm Beach Post. p. 3A.
7. ^ Ruane, John (1988-01-01). "Casting final look at '87. Local sportscasters recall year's memorable events". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 94.
External links
"Reproduction" of the WGN intrusion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM7Q1WiepoQ) on YouTube
Max Headroom WTTW Pirating Incident - 11/22/87 (Subtitled) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWdgAMYjYSs) on YouTube
Max Headroom Video Pirate Incident in Chicago on 11/22/1987 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NteORzWN7o) on YouTube
The Infamous "Max Headroom" Incident (http://winstonengle.tripod.com/chicagowho/maxhead.htm)
Video signal piracy hits WGN/WTTW (http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/5.63.html#subj2)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Max_Headroom_broadcast_signal_intrusion&oldid=611018294"
Categories: Television in the United States Max Headroom Broadcast engineering Pirate television 1987 crimes in the United States
Unidentified criminals 1987 in American television Unsolved crimes 1987 in Illinois Censorship in the United States
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