He or she also had some serious bankrolling behind them. The perpetrator clearly had a knack for electronics and was somewhere in the Windy City, as the pirate transmission was distributed over WGN's satellite link and WTTW's land-based microwave links. The Federal Communications Commission and the FBI quickly unleashed task forces dedicated to finding and arresting the signal pirate.
![max headroom incident max headroom incident](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7e/35/c1/7e35c1b7116c00f2d01f1e998c4938f3.jpg)
By the time technicians could begin to take corrective measures, the incident was over. Unlike WGN, WTTW had no engineers on location at the transmission tower, which sits at the top of what was then the Sears Tower. The second intrusion lased about 90 seconds and WTTW was unable to stop it.
#MAX HEADROOM INCIDENT SERIES#
While his words were distorted, viewers clearly made out several bits, including New Coke’s slogan, “Catch the Wave” (while Max holds a Pepsi can) a remark about sports reporter and announcer Chuck Swirsky “Your love is fading” humming of the theme song to TV series Clutch Cargo and as Max held up a glove, “My brother is wearing the other one.”Īfter the rant, the picture cut to a shot of the pirate's exposed butt being spanked with a flyswatter by an accomplice wearing a dress, as he cries “They're coming to get me!” The transmission then cut to black and returned viewers to Doctor Who with a flash of static.
![max headroom incident max headroom incident](https://cdn.wallpapersafari.com/98/54/Q365lw.png)
The pirate, this time transmitting with audio, launched into a bizarre diatribe. The picture danced for a second and Max was back in front of the twirling metal panel again. In the middle of a scene, the signal pirate made another intrusion. About two hours after the first incident, viewers of the local PBS affiliate WTTW were interrupted in the middle of an episode of Doctor Who. Viewers were brought back to a visibly flustered Dan Roan saying, “Well, if you're wondering what happened, so am I.” The airwave hijacking, known in the television business as broadcast signal intrusion, was stopped quickly when WGN on-site engineers switched the modulation of the studio link to an alternate transmitter and less than 30 seconds later, the Max impostor, having said nothing, having hardly moved, was gone.
#MAX HEADROOM INCIDENT TV#
Then the clips from the Bears game gave way to static.įrom the snow emerged a clear picture of the grinning face of Max Headroom, the titular character of a TV show and pitchman for “New Coke.” More accurately, it was man in a Max Headroom mask, standing in front of a swaying sheet of corrugated metal, awash in the sound of a high, harsh buzz. The picture on the station monitors, as well as any TV tuned to WGN, suddenly began twitching and flickering. Sports anchor Dan Roan was live on The Nine O'Clock News on WGN in Chicago, narrating video of the day’s football highlights. This is what happened on November 22, 1987.
![max headroom incident max headroom incident](https://news.wttw.com/sites/default/files/styles/json_lg/public/field/image/LeopoldNovel_1116.jpg)
Some dress up as characters from TV shows, hijack broadcast signals and troll people who are just trying to watch the news. Not all pirates wear eye patches and talk funny.