10 Pics About A 1980s Unsolved Mystery: The Max Headroom TV Signal Hijacking
Carly Tennes
Published
01/06/2025
in
creepy
Despite having his own made-for-TV movie and two television series, Max Headroom's biggest claim to fame isn't being the first AI television presenter: It's serving as the literal face of one of the world's most infamous — and still unsolved — television signal hijackings.
From Headroom's on-screen history to the hunt for the perpetrators, here are 10 pictures telling the story of the 1987 Max Headroom incident.
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Image in Public DomainWe interrupt this regularly scheduled programming to bring you the mystery of the Max Headroom signal hijacking, an unsolved on-air pirate broadcast that horrified the broader Chicagoland area in November 1987. -
2. Here's Headroom!
Courtesy of IMDBLong before he became the face of one of the most notorious hijackings in television history, Max Headroom was a UK television phenomenon. Dubbed the world’s first AI TV host, Headroom’s satirical presence first graced screens in 1985’s British cyberpunk television film, 'Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future'. -
3. An (Almost) Overnight Sensation
Courtesy of andymerv on YouTubeTwo days after the flick hit the small screen, Headroom began his ascent to TV stardom, serving as the digital VJ of ‘The Max Headroom Show,’ and later, the star of an eponymous sci-fi drama on ABC. -
4. Prime Time Ready
Courtesy of Kenny Triton on YouTubeOn the night of November 22, 1987, Headroom found a new way to break into the Chicago market (well, sort of), after at least three folks hijacked local TV stations WGN-TV and WTTW with an equally creepy and scandalous pirate broadcast themed after the virtual TV host. -
5. Take One
Courtesy of FuzzyMemories.TVThe first hijacking went down during WGN-TV’s ‘Nine O’Clock News,’ when at roughly 9:14 p.m., the hackers took over the news program’s sports segment. Donning a Headroom mask and a suit similar to the ones the AI presenter sported onscreen, the hacker silently rocked in front of a striped background for about 20 seconds before network engineers were able to regain control of the signal. -
6. Laughing It Off
Courtesy of vson8 on YouTube“Well, if you're wondering what's happened, so am I,” joked sports anchor Dan Roan, whose segment was interrupted by the hijacking. -
7. Take Two
Courtesy of vson8 on YouTubeA few hours later, the hijackers gave their hack another go, this time taking aim at Chicago PBS affiliate, WTTW, which was airing a re-run of ‘Doctor Who’s’ ‘Horror of Fang Rock’ at the time. -
8. Swatting Away
Courtesy of FuzzyMemories.TVLasting roughly 90 seconds this time around, the pirate broadcast was a whole lot more scandalous than its first iteration. The masked hacker mocked Headroom’s New Coke advertisements, flipped the bird to the camera, pulled out what some believed to be an adult toy, and most infamously, had their bare backside smacked with what appeared to be a fly swatter. -
9. Control Room Chaos
Courtesy of WTTW“All of a sudden we don’t have ‘Doctor Who’ on the air — we have this Max Headroom mask,” Paul Rizzo, WTTW’s air director, recalled of that frantic evening. “And as the content got weirder we got increasingly stressed out about our inability to do anything about it.” -
10. A Lingering Mystery
Courtesy of vson8 on YouTubeThough an FCC investigation into the pirate broadcast was unsuccessful, several speculated that either a former WGN employee or a member of Chicago’s hacking scene was responsible for the incident. But even with these theories, as of 2025, the identities of the signal hijackers — and the actor behind this iteration of Headroom — remain a Windy City mystery.
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3… 2… 1…
We interrupt this regularly scheduled programming to bring you the mystery of the Max Headroom signal hijacking, an unsolved on-air pirate broadcast that horrified the broader Chicagoland area in November 1987.
We interrupt this regularly scheduled programming to bring you the mystery of the Max Headroom signal hijacking, an unsolved on-air pirate broadcast that horrified the broader Chicagoland area in November 1987.
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