List of television broadcast signal intrusion incidents

This article is a **list of television broadcast signal intrusion incidents** by country.

A broadcast signal intrusion happens when an unauthorized person overrides a television (or radio) station's signal, and plays something else over the signal. Throughout history, these have ranged from racist songs to fake EAS alerts, and even pornographic content.

## Poland

### **Telewizja Solidarność / Television Solidarity hijacking**

* In September 1985, four astronomers of the University of Toruń used a computer to hijack TP1 (state-run media) broadcasts to spread pro-Solidarność / anti-communist rule messages. The messages were as follows: **Dość podwyżek cen, kłamstw I represji. Solidarność Toruń** (*Enough price increases, lies, and repressions. Solidarity Toruń*) and **Bojkot wyborów naszym obowiązkiem** (*It is our duty to boycott the election*), with the logo of the Solidarność movement. After the 4 men were caught and sentenced, their prize-winning scientific achievements were noted and were sentenced to probation and 3,000,000 old złoty.

Footage
* Currently, outside of reconstructions, footage is unavailable.

## United Kingdom

### **Southern Television signal intrusion**

* On November 26, 1977, Southern Television, the predecessor of ITV Meridian was hijacked in what is believed to be the first ever broadcast signal intrusion incident. The incident happened at 17:10 during an ITN news bulletin, when the audio feed of the program was hijacked and replaced by a distorted voice claiming to be the representative of the "Ashtar Galactic Command", Vrillon. There are several reports of the incident, however, the most widely believed version of the transcript of the incident is as follows:

**This is the voice of Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command, speaking to you. For many years you have seen us as lights in the skies. We speak to you now in peace and wisdom as we have done to your brothers and sisters all over this, your planet Earth. We come to warn you of the destiny of your race and your world so that you may communicate to your fellow beings the course you must take to avoid the disaster which threatens your world, and the beings on our worlds around you. This is in order that you may share in the great awakening, as the planet passes into the New Age of Aquarius. The New Age can be a time of great peace and evolution for your race, but only if your rulers are made aware of the evil forces that can overshadow their judgments. Be still now and listen, for your chance may not come again. All your weapons of evil must be removed. The time for conflict is now past and the race of which you are a part may proceed to the higher stages of its evolution if you show yourselves worthy to do this. You have but a short time to learn to live together in peace and goodwill. Small groups all over the planet are learning this, and exist to pass on the light of the dawning New Age to you all. You are free to accept or reject their teachings, but only those who learn to live in peace will pass to the higher realms of spiritual evolution. Hear now the voice of Vrillon, a representative of the Ashtar Galactic Command, speaking to you. Be aware also that there are many false prophets and guides at present operating on your world. They will suck your energy from you – the energy you call money and will put it to evil ends and give you worthless dross in return. Your inner divine self will protect you from this. You must learn to be sensitive to the voice within that can tell you what is truth, and what is confusion, chaos and untruth. Learn to listen to the voice of truth which is within you and you will lead yourselves onto the path of evolution. This is our message to our dear friends. We have watched you growing for many years as you too have watched our lights in your skies. You know now that we are here, and that there are more beings on and around your Earth than your scientists admit. We are deeply concerned about you and your path towards the light and will do all we can to help you. Have no fear, seek only to know yourselves, and live in harmony with the ways of your planet Earth. We here at the Ashtar Galactic Command thank you for your attention. We are now leaving the planes of your existence. May you be blessed by the supreme love and truth of the cosmos.**

However, a local newspaper reported the transcript as follows:

**This is the voice of Asteron. I am an authorised representative of the Intergalactic Mission, and I have a message for the planet Earth. We are beginning to enter the period of Aquarius and there are many corrections which have to be made by Earth people. All your weapons of evil must be destroyed. You have only a short time to learn to live together in peace. You must live in peace... or leave the galaxy.**

According to investigations, the hijacking was achieved by simply taking another transmitter really close to theirs at the Hannington transmitter.

Footage
* No footage is currently found, except for a recreation, however, according to interviews, used to exist at the time of the incident.

## United States

### **Captain Midnight broadcast signal intrusion**

* On April 27, 1986, John R. MacDougall, under the alias *Captain Midnight* jammed the Galaxy 1 satellite signals of HBO, due to HBO scrambling their satellite signal, making people have to pay for the channel. From a satellite uplink transmitter he worked at, he created a color bar testcard at 00:32 before putting the following text over it:

**GOODEVENING HBO**

**FROM CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT**

**$ 12.95/MONTH ?**

**NO WAY !**

**[SHOWTIME/MOVIE CHANNEL BEWARE!]**

* Before this event, satellite jamming was not a crime in the United States, and he was found guilty of illegally operating a satellite uplink transmitter, and fined $5000 and got a year of probation.

Footage
Captain Midnight, HBO, 1986
More information
* Captain Midnight broadcast signal intrusion

### **American Exxxtasy broadcast hijacking**

* At an unknown date, probably in 1987, American Exxxtasy got hijacked in a similar manner to The Playboy Channel hijacking. Thomas Haynie was thought to be behind the incident, however, the recording of the incident was too low quality to be usable. The only evidence of this is the Los Angeles Times report on Haynie getting convicted, saying *"[Haynie] was convicted on one felony count of interfering with the operation of a satellite and a misdemeanor count of violating a radio license, both for the interruption of the Playboy Channel. He was acquitted of similar piracy charges regarding interruptions on the American Exxxtasy Channel."*.

Footage
* Not publicly available, low quality recording said to have existed.

### **The Playboy Channel religious message**

* On September 6, 1987, The Playboy Channel got hijacked during an airing of *Three Daughters* with a text-only religious message from the bible, saying '**"Thus sayeth the Lord thy God: Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Repent, the kingdom of Heaven is at hand."**. Thomas Haynie, from the Christian Broadcasting Network was convicted of satellite piracy for the incident due to the message and the equipment used, however, he plead his innocence. Despite attempts to recreate the incident with CBN equipment ending up unsuccessfully, he was convicted on 2 of 6 counts, and got a $1000 fine and 150 hours of community service.

Footage
Footage of the event was not publicly released, although supposedly does exist. However, an image of the event was found.
### **Max Headroom signal hijacking**

* One of the most popular incidents, the Max Headroom signal hijacking happened on November 22, 1987, in Chicago, Illinois. Two stations were affected. The first one was on WGN-TV during the 9pm newscast but only lasted 25 seconds and had no clear audio. Next came the more infamous WTTW hijacking at about 23:00 during Doctor Who, where after rambling about random things, and making Max Headroom references as well, showed his naked buttocks and them getting slapped by a flyswatter by a person in a maid costume. None of the people involved were ever identified, and even the audio of the incident is partially debated.

Footage
WGN Channel 9 - The Nine O'Clock News - "The 1st 'Max Headroom' Incident" (1987)
(WGN-TV)WTTW Chicago - The Max Headroom Pirating Incident (1987) - Original Upload
(WTTW)
More information
* Max Headroom signal hijacking

### **WMGT-TV signal hijacking**

* On October 15, 1988, during the 1988 World Series, in Macon, Georgia, WMGT-TV's on air-feed was replaced by 10 seconds of a black-and-white pornographic movie by accident by a technician.

Footage
* No recordings are currently known to exist.

### **KPPX-TV signal hijacking**

* On March 12, 2007, in Phoenix, Arizona, on KPPX-TV at a 21:00 broadcast of an Ion Life rebroadcast of *State of U.S. Health Care*, viewers were greeted by 30 seconds of a pornographic film due to an employee accidentally inserting it to the broadcast by accident. The employee was later fired.

Footage
* No recordings are currently known to exist.

### **Playhouse Disney signal hijacking**

* On May 2, 2007, a Comcast headend replaced Playhouse Disney's programming with hardcore pornography in Lincroft, New Jersey. Despite Comcast investigating the incident, they did not announce findings.

Footage
* No recordings are currently known to exist.

### **WJLA-TV signal hijacking**

* On July 13, 2007, in Washington, D.C., WJLA-TV's digital/HD signal was interrupted by a grainy photo of a man and a woman. Despite originally being claimed as a hijacking, it was later revealed to be an HDTV decoder malfunctioning, and the image being from The Oprah Winfrey Show. The analog signal was not interrupted.

Footage
No recordings are currently known to exist, however an image from the incident was recovered.
### **Fake Zombie Alerts**

#### **KRTV's first signal hijacking**

* On February 11, 2013, at 14:30 in Great Falls, Montana, KRTV's Emergency Alert System incident was hacked on channels 2 and 3 and instead played a false warning, saying "the bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living".

Footage
EAS Local Area Emergency ZOMBIE (TV HACK) in Great Falls, MT
(Channel 2)Hackers send out TV Station's Bogus Emergency Alert System Message about Zombies
(Channel 3)
#### **WNMU**

* After the KRTV hijacking, WNMU in Marquette, Michigan was hijacked with the same message.

Footage
* No recordings are currently known to exist.

#### **KENW**

* After WNMU, KENW came at 15:55 in Portales, New Mexico.

Footage
* No recordings are currently known to exist.

#### **WBUP**

* The next channel to get hijacked with the false zombie alert was WBUP in Ishpeming, Michigan at 20:35.

Footage
Zombie Warning during The Bachelor
#### **KRTV's second signal hijacking**

* At the same time as WBUP, KRTV's channel 2 was hijacked in the same manner a second time.

Footage
Zombie Apocalypse Emergency Broadcast System Hack
#### **WKBT-DT**

* As a reaction to the zombie hoax alerts, a morning show on WIZM-FM in La Crosse, Michigan, played the signal unedited, triggering the EAS on WKBT-DT, accidentally hijacking it, and making it the final victim of the false zombie alerts, as the perpetrator was caught on the same day, on February 12, 2013.

Footage
Zombies!
### **KVOA signal hijacking**

* On February 1, 2009, a Comcast headend in Tucson, Arizona, replaced KVOA's signal with 28 seconds of the pornographic movie *Wild Cherries 5* during Super Bowl XLIII. In February 2011, Frank Tanori Gonzalez was convicted in relation to the incident.

Footage

* No recordings are currently known to exist.

### **Kids On Demand signal hijacking**

* On March 16, 2010, Time Warner Cable's Kids On Demand and Kids Preschool On Demand channels were replaced in the counties of Johnston, Wake, Wayne, and Wilson in North Carolina with 2 hours of Playboy TV, while in the rest of North Carolina, the channels broadcasted a black screen. It was later revealed that this was an accidental malfunction that caused the wrong previews to be shown on the channels.

Footage
* No recordings are currently known to exist.

### **Disney Channel signal hijacking**

* On September 7, 2012, Disney Channel's Disney Junior block was hijacked with 6 minutes of hardcore pornography.

Footage
One recording known to exist, partially available from a news report.
### **Cincinatti Comcast hijacking**

* On March 24, 2016 in the Cincinatti Metropolitan Area, a grainy photo of a singer interrupted a Comcast headend multiple times. It was later revealed to be another malfunction, similar to the WJLA-TV incident, as it was an unexpected trigger to its Trilithic EASyPLUS Emergency Alert System encoder/decoder while activating a Required Weekly Test.

Footage
Emergency Alert System hacked 3/24/16
This image was shown during the EAS hack for a minute.
## See also

* List of Emergency Alert System broadcasts
* List of technical difficulties incidents on television

## References

1. ↑ https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-25-mn-1001-story.html
2. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/848124078/
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120925223446/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/108234-KPPX\_Sacks\_Porn\_Prankster.php
4. ↑ http://cbs4.com/topstories/local\_story\_122080846.html
5. ↑ https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/02/12/171814715/zombie-alert-also-aired-in-michigan-hacking-traced-to-overseas-source
6. ↑ https://www.computerworld.com/article/2473992/hackers-can-hijack-unpatched-emergency-alert-system-devices--broadcast-bogus.html
7. ↑ https://www.nfl.com/news/arizona-man-pleads-guilty-to-hacking-super-bowl-telecast-09000d5d8234e3e0
8. ↑ http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7240479/