The Max Headroom signal hijacking, also called the Max Headroom incident, happened on November 22, 1987, when two television stations in Chicago, Illinois, were briefly taken over by an unknown person wearing a Max Headroom mask and costume. This unauthorized broadcast reached thousands of viewers at home.

The first event occurred during a sports segment of WGN-TV’s 9:00 p.m. newscast. A person wearing a mask appeared in front of a moving metal panel that looked like the animated background from Max Headroom’s show. Only a loud buzzing sound was heard during this interruption, which lasted about 17 seconds before engineers at WGN-TV regained control of the broadcast.

The second incident happened about two hours later during a program on WTTW, a PBS station, called Doctor Who: Horror of Fang Rock. At that time, no one was working at the affected tower, so the hijackers had more time to broadcast. The masked figure spoke in a distorted but audible voice, mentioning topics such as Max Headroom’s advertisements for New Coke, the animated series Clutch Cargo, a WGN sportscaster named Chuck Swirsky, and other unrelated subjects. The video ended with the masked figure showing his bare buttocks to a woman holding a flyswatter. The woman said, “Bend over, bitch!” and lightly spanked him with the flyswatter as he cried and screamed. The hijackers then stopped the broadcast, and regular programming returned after about 90 seconds.

A criminal investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) after the incident could not identify the people responsible. Over the years, many unofficial searches and theories have been made, but the individuals behind the hijacking have never been confirmed.

Signal intrusion

On the night of Sunday, November 22, 1987, two signal intrusions by a person wearing a Max Headroom mask occurred on local Chicago television stations.

The first incident happened at 9:14 p.m. during a sports segment on WGN-TV’s The Nine O’Clock News. Viewers’ screens went black for about 15 seconds before a figure wearing a Max Headroom mask and sunglasses appeared. The person moved erratically in front of a metal sheet that looked like the background from the Max Headroom show, with a buzzing sound. The intrusion lasted about 30 seconds. Engineers at WGN changed the signal’s frequency to stop the interruption.

After the broadcast resumed, WGN’s sports anchor, Dan Roan, said, “Well, if you’re wondering what’s happened, so am I,” and joked that the computer used for the news “took off and went wild.” He then continued reporting on the Chicago Bears game.

At about 11:20 p.m., the signal of WTTW, a local PBS station, was interrupted during a broadcast of Doctor Who. The same masked figure was involved, and his voice was heard through distorted audio. The figure made quick, unrelated comments and references, including mentioning “nerds,” calling a WGN sportscaster a “frickin’ liberal,” holding up a can of Pepsi, and referencing a Coca-Cola ad. He also made strange noises, sang a phrase, and hummed part of a theme song from a 1959 cartoon. The figure claimed to have “made a giant masterpiece” and showed a knitted glove. A female figure wearing a French maid costume appeared briefly, and the masked figure cried, “Oh no, they’re coming to get me!” before the broadcast ended.

Technicians at WTTW could not stop the signal takeover because no engineers were working at the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower), where the station’s transmitter was located. Station officials said they tried to fix the problem but were unable to. The broadcast ended when the intruder stopped transmitting. Viewers called the station to ask what had happened.

Methods

The broadcast takeover happened when a stronger microwave signal was sent to the stations' towers than the stations themselves were using, causing a capture effect. Experts say the act needed a lot of technical knowledge and a large amount of power. The unauthorized broadcast probably came from a place that had a clear view of both towers, which were located on two tall buildings in downtown Chicago. Although the trick was hard to do in 1987, it became nearly impossible to copy after American TV stations changed from analog to digital signals in 2009.

Investigations

No one has said who was responsible for the prank. People have guessed that "Max" and his helpers might have been a former or current worker at WGN who was unhappy, or members of a secret group of hackers in Chicago. Even though police looked into the event right after it happened, and many others studied it over the years, no one has found out who did it or why.

After the prank, an official from the FCC said that those who did it could be fined up to $100,000 or sent to jail for one year. However, the time limit for legal action ended in 1992, so if the people behind the prank were discovered, they would not face criminal punishment anymore.

Cultural impact

Although the event was only briefly noticed by the public, it has been mentioned in different ways in various forms of media over many years. Motherboard reported that it has become a common theme in cyberpunk stories about hacking.

The first mention happened soon after the event when WMAQ-TV, another Chicago television station, added funny clips of the hijacking into a sports news segment hosted by Mark Giangreco. "Many people believed it was real—the pirate interrupting our broadcast. We received many calls about it," Giangreco said.

In the season 3 episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast titled Freakshow, a character named Commander Andy (played by Andy Merrill) repeatedly interrupts a live broadcast while Space Ghost (voiced by George Lowe) tries to finish an interview. The episode makes fun of television hijackings. During the scene, a short clip of the Max Headroom Incident is shown on a monitor as Moltar (voiced by C. Martin Croker) attempts to stop the interruption and return the show to normal.