The Max Headroom Broadcast Intrusions
Two Unauthorised Chicago Television Transmissions
Forgotten Mysteries · 1987
Archived on
Associated With
Unidentified transmitter operator or operators; affected stations WGN-TV and WTTW - creator or operator
Defining Feature
Two recorded analogue broadcast intrusions showing a person in a Max Headroom mask
Status
Unresolved - Perpetrator identity remains publicly unconfirmed; both interruptions survive in broadcast recordings
Overview
On 22 November 1987, a masked intruder broke into two Chicago television broadcasts without authorisation.
The first interruption briefly displaced part of WGN-TV’s evening news. A second and longer performance later took over WTTW during Doctor Who.
Viewers suddenly received the pirate transmission in place of the scheduled programme. The masked figure and distorted presentation made both interruptions immediately distinctive.
Why It Mattered
The intrusions exposed the unsettling possibility that somebody with the right equipment could seize control of a television signal. The masked performance became one of broadcasting’s strangest unresolved incidents, with the perpetrators’ identity and motive still unknown.
Two Station Interruptions
- A 1987 wire report records that WGN-TV’s sports segment was displaced by masked video.
- WTTW records a second intrusion during its transmission of Doctor Who later that night.
Broadcast Investigation
- A 1987 broadcast-industry report identified WGN-TV and WTTW-TV as the two affected stations.
- The report stated that the Federal Communications Commission was searching for the perpetrator.
Unresolved Identity
- Recordings preserve both broadcast interruptions.
- The perpetrators’ identity and motive remain unknown.
Sources & Records
- UPI — Chicago television signal intrusions, 1987 — Reports the two interruptions, their sequence and the FCC investigation at the time.
- WTTW — Max Headroom Attack — Confirms the station’s own Doctor Who broadcast was interrupted in 1987.
- Electronic Media — search for the television signal pirate — Reports the affected stations, investigation and contemporary broadcast-engineering concerns.
Gallery
Credit
WGN Channel 9 / The Museum of Classic Chicago Television; reproduced by BuzzFeed
Licence
Historical Ephemera
Displayed for commentary, criticism, research and historical documentation where permitted by applicable law. No permission for reuse is granted.
Caption
The masked figure in Chicago's Max Headroom broadcast intrusion was an impersonator, not the television character's performer, turning a familiar face into an unsettling interruption.