History Main / DoNotAdjustYourSet

* ''Film/OurManFlint''. The leaders of Galaxy broadcast a television warning to the nations of the world: destroy your nuclear weapons, navy and air forces or face geological and meteorological annihilation. They then jam all transmissions worldwide (except phone lines) in the time leading up to their deadline.

* ''Film/OurManFlint''. The leaders of Galaxy broadcast a warning to the nations of the world: destroy your nuclear weapons, navy and air forces or face geological and meteorological annihilation.

* In 1996, someone was recording WKCR 89.9, the radio station of Columbia University, when it was interrupted by a disturbing broadcast involving otherworldly voices, a woman reading the obituaries of people who died in the 1980s, and funeral bells. Exactly what the broadcast was is still unknown, whether it was just a prank by some bored college kids, or a genuine message from Hell.
** A subreddit has been dedicated to the incident, with several other theories, such as the broadcast being experimental music. Also of note is that one of the obituaries was for Frank Oppenheimer, a victim of the Pan Am Flight 103 terrorist bombing. A few users think the recording is a fake, even being part of a {{Creepypasta}}.

* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'': It's the heroes who use this method to broadcast their evidence that the government [[spoiler:is directly responsible for the annihilation of Miranda and the creation of the Reavers]]. After the government [[spoiler: hacked many/all TV sets to show subliminal messages to River.]]

* ''ComicBook/AllNewWolverine #8'': ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} Director Maria Hill wants to tap ComicBook/{{X 23}} for a mission. Laura wants nothing to do with her. So when Maria calls her, Laura refuses to answer her phone. So Hill picks up for her. Laura then warns Gabby not to say anything. So Hill ''puts Laura's phone on speaker''.
-->'''Laura:''' Can she ''do'' that?\\
'''Hill:''' Yes, I can do that.
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
** ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman1961'': After murdering Superman, Lex Luthor hacks all radio channels in the world to gloat.
** ''ComicBook/TheLeperFromKrypton'': After being informed that he has gotten Superman infected successfully, Lex Luthor hacks every tv channel in the country to announce he has finally destroyed Superman. Remarkably, he does this while locked up in prison.
--->'''Lex Luthor:''' ''"Attention! This is Luthor speaking from Metropolis Prison via an electronic thought-projector which has cut into the transmission frequency of your tv hookup! I have an important announcement! I've just achieved the ultimate triumph of my criminal career!"''
* ComicBook/TheJoker does this in ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'' #3: hijacking Gotham City's airwaves each night to broadcast himself torturing a different member of Gotham's law enforcement community.
-->'''The Joker:''' Well, now there's show for you! Joker TV! Coming to you live at midnight, every night of the week. And no need to memorize pesky channel numbers; I'm on all of 'em! Thanks to technology donated by Penguin and Catwoman, Joker TV not only replaces those boring network broadcasts but it it's signal is impossible to trace, insuring you, the viewers, top-quality entertainment free from censorious authorities.
* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': Pre-television example. The first plot hatched by Captain Marvel's nemesis Doctor Sivana in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks was a scheme to take over all the world's radio stations to silence them forever.
* Done in a horrifying manner in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''. After Darkseid finally obtains the Anti-Life Equation--a mathematical proof of the futility of living and hope--he takes over ''every single form'' of broadcasting on the entire planet, including the Internet, television, radio, and cell phones, to spread its power. Anyone who hears, sees, or is generally near the Equation, including superhumans, are immediately brainwashed by it, becoming Darkseid's mindless, hopeless slaves. How many is "anyone?" ''Three billion.''
* ComicBook/TheJoker loves this trope. For all his most grandiose crimes, he loves to have an audience to strike fear into. In the days before widespread televisions, he used radio broadcasts, but even those got changed to [=TVs=] in reimaginings. In fact, he does this shtick in his very first story in the comics where he took control of a radio broadcast to deliver his death threats, which makes this OlderThanTheyThink.

* ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}''

* Marvel's Kang The Conqueror did this, broadcasting his speech on every TV, radio, and Internet-capable computer in the world ("in the local majority language") to let Earth know he was going to conquer it, so get ready and give him a good fight. [[spoiler:The kicker? ''Kang won anyway.'']] Acceptable, as he does have 40th century tech.
* Dr. Wily does this in the first issue of ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'', demanding that every world leader surrender to him.
* Occurs in ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'', though on a much smaller scale. Queen Chrysalis hijacks Spike's fire-mail line to Princess Celestia to deliver a crystal ball to the Mane 6, which serves as a two-way video conference and a map.
* At one point in ''ComicBook/{{Paranoia}},'' the [[BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats Earth Mothers]] display a video of King having sex with Ala on all of the monitors in [[DomedHometown Alpha Complex.]]
* The first story of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' #24 (Gold Key run), "The Mark of the Blue Scarab", starts right off with Scooby and Shaggy being chased by a figure in a comic book superhero costume. The narration asks the reader to check the indicia at the bottom of the page to make sure they're reading the right comic book.
* The ''ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar'' has a heroic example: Hal Jordan uses his Green Lantern ring to broadcast a message through every television and computer in Coast City, warning its inhabitants to evacuate before the Sinestro Corps comes and razes the city to the ground.
* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': The villainess Circe used some PostModernMagik to televise Diana's fight with Medusa worldwide, hoping that the gorgon would look at the camera at some point and turn the millions of viewers [[TakenForGranite into stone]].

* In the eighth season of ''WebAnimation/SonicForHire'', while Franchise/{{Sonic}}, Tails, and Knuckles are at the VideoGame/BurgerTime restaurant, Eggman has taken over most of the world and broadcasts his domination on TV. This gets lampshaded when Tails notices a television appearing out of nowhere when Eggman makes his announcement, and Eggman manages to [[TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat predict]] what Sonic and Tails would be doing in the restaurant.

* In 1977, a prankster hijacked the audio (but not the video) of Creator/{{ITV}} station Southern Television in the UK, claiming to be an alien called Vrillon of the Ashtar Galactic Command broadcasting a message to Earth in which he called for world peace. The full transcipt can be found [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Television_broadcast_interruption_hoax_(1977)#Transcript here]] A common theory is that the prankster wasn't a prankster, but a protester against nuclear weaponry and the MutuallyAssuredDestruction (MAD) protocol. Another theory is that the prankster was a bored Southern Television employee [[{{Troll}} trolling around]].

* On November 22nd, 1987, Chicago TV stations [[Creator/WGNAmerica WGN-9]] and WTTW-11 were hacked by a prankster wearing a Series/MaxHeadroom mask. The first hijacking on WGN came during the evening news, and involved Max bobbing his head, the audio being nothing but a loud buzzing. The second hijack on WTTW came during a showing of the first part of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial [[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E1HorrorOfFangRock "Horror of Fang Rock"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWdgAMYjYSs had distorted audio]], in which, over the course of 90 seconds, the hijacker took shots at Chuck Swirsky of WGN, Coca-Cola's ill-fated New Coke (Headroom had become the mascot for the return of Classic Coke a few months prior), and TheFifties SynchroVox series ''WesternAnimation/ClutchCargo'' (humming the theme tune), and also made references to hemorrhoids, defecating, and his so-called brother wearing the glove matching the one he had on him (a possible reference to Music/MichaelJackson and his signature single glove), ending with the hijacker dropping his pants and being spanked by a second person wearing a French maid's outfit with a flyswatter. The perpetrator's identity remains unknown to this day, though some speculate that he was a disgruntled former WGN employee.

* On November 22nd, 1987, Chicago TV stations [[Creator/WGNAmerica WGN-9]] and WTTW-11 were hacked by a prankster wearing a Series/MaxHeadroom mask. The first hijacking on WGN came during the evening news, and involved Max bobbing his head, the audio being nothing but a loud buzzing. The second hijack on WTTW came during a showing of the first part of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial [[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E1HorrorOfFangRock "Horror of Fang Rock"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWdgAMYjYSs had distorted audio]], in which, over the course of 90 seconds, the hijacker took shots at Chuck Swirsky of WGN, Coca-Cola's ill-fated New Coke (Headroom had become the mascot for the return of Classic Coke a few months prior), and TheFifties SynchroVox series ''WesternAnimation/ClutchCargo'' (humming the theme tune), and also made references to hemorrhoids, defecating, and his so-called brother wearing the glove matching the one he had on him (a possible reference to Music/MichaelJackson and his signature single glove), ending with the hijacker dropping his pants and being spanked by a second person wearing a French maid's outfit with a flyswatter. The perpetrator's identity remains unknown to this day, though many believe him to be schizophrenic.

* In the miniseries ''Series/{{V 1983}}'', it is "explained" that all the world's broadcasting networks have been handed over to the alien Visitors. In the sequel miniseries, it is shown that a single (albeit large) microchip aboard the alien spaceship controls all TV signals.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' episode "Brain's Song", Brain uses this... twice. First, he somehow manages to broadcast a tearjerker (broadcasting ''live'' no less) in order to make everyone in the world chronically depressed so he can easily take over. And for the most part, it works. (Apparently, no one turns off their TV when their favorite show is interrupted for a so-called "true story" about a Football player whose career is ended by career-ending stomach cramps.) Unfortunately for Brain, when he takes over the airwaves again to try and announce his leadership of the world, he finds himself suffering from uncontrollable "post-production jitters" (thanks to his own work in simulating the aforementioned stomach cramps), and thus appears so funny that he inadvertently cures the world's depression. (And creates a new CatchPhrase: I am the O-o-o-overlord!!!). In another episode, he hijacks television networks as part of a plan to try to replicate the (in)famous Orson Welles War of the Worlds panic. Unfortunately, the quality of his production is so low that everyone thinks that it's hilarious rather than terrifying.

** ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' has a cutscene after Area 2 that shows the Turtles arriving at April's apartment in ruins and Splinter gone missing. This prompts Shredder to directly deliver a message to the Turtles via the television, saying that the Foot Clan has Splinter and warns that they must be defeated to retrieve him.

* ''Fanfic/KwamiMagiHomuraMagica'' has [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Homura Akemi]] hijack the Akuma alert system to make sure that [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Ladybug]] knows that she has killed Monarch and defeated Felix and Cat Noir, taking all of their Miraculouses and that she intends to use them to make not just a wish, but what the wish will be (to wipe out the Incubators from the past, present, and future), that her Kwami (Tikki) will be able to tell her why this wish is a good one, and to not resist while all but saying she's a time traveler and she'll just come back again and again until she gets the Ladybug Miraculous from her.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndSupermanBattleOfTheSuperSons''. Lois Lane wants to warn everyone about Starro's PuppeteerParasites taking over the world, but it's pointed out that only the President has the authority to break in on every broadcast like that. So she gets President Lex Luthor to make an EmergencyBroadcast. Instead Luthor turns out to be infested as well and uses the broadcast to activate all the parasites to take over the rest of humanity by force.

* Happens again in ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon''. Mio announces she's taking over as Queen of the World in this manner during the Special Act. (which takes place after the main series)

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon "Day of the Moon"]]: The Doctor and his crew do this again to foil the Silence's subliminal control over Earth. They use a 21[-[[superscript:st]]-]-century smartphone to hack into the broadcast of the Apollo 11 Moon landing and replace it with a subliminal message to attack and kill all Silence on sight. In this case, though, it's less that they take over ''every'' channel, as they instead take over the ''one'' channel that everyone will be watching.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour "The Eleventh Hour"]]: The Atraxi are not exactly evil — more incredibly callous — and broadcast on every communications device "Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated" ad infinitum. (At first, the Doctor and Amy think "human residence" just means her house, but once he realizes it's on ''every'' communications device, he promptly figures out what they really mean.)

* A heroic version happens regularly in ''Series/DarkAngel'' where [[PlayfulHacker Eyes Only]] takes over everyone's set to deliver a message on whatever he feels people should know about then. Somewhat more realistic in that he does have a lot of equipment to allow him to do this, and if he stays on for longer than 30 seconds the broadcast can be tracked back to him.

* An unusual use in ''Series/{{Angel}}'', where Jasmine cannot in fact simply take control of all airwaves, but can use her MassHypnosis to convince enough people that she ''should'' be on every channel that it'll happen. Also, doing this is the culmination rather than the start of her plan, because anyone who sees the broadcast will fall under her control.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}''. [[BigBad Counselor Hek]] was able to hijack the developer's real life Twitch stream back on March 7, 2014.
** In the game proper Vox Solaris, the unknown leader[[note]]Publicly, anyways, the players will be very aware of her true identity.[[/note]] of the [[LaResistance heroic Solaris United]] will occasionally hijack display screens to transmit threats to their [[MegaCorp Corpus captors]] or reassurance to the [[PenalColony Solaris]] as a whole.
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has a heroic example where the Phantom Thieves hijack the airwaves to declare that their leader isn't dead and that they're going to steal [[spoiler:Masayoshi Shido's]] heart. None of their previous {{Calling Card}}s reached that level of audacity.
** And this is alluded to when Joker is revealed to be coming to ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', as his reveal trailer starts the exact same way. The Game Awards 2018's version of the trailer [[http://twitter.com/thegameawards/status/1196153971674509312 even has events play out]] as if he hijacked the presentation screen!

* Subverted by ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}''. "Was he ''trying'' to take over the Cooking Channel?"
** At one point, when Helen attempts to spy on Madblood's [[SpaceBase moonbase]], he points - through the only opening in his fortress of evil - a television, [[TakeThat tuned at all times to the WB.]]

** Also, the episode "Revolution", where Mad Mod performs a massive brainwashing to make people think the USA were never segregated from the British Empire. Along with ''[[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs changing the scenery]]''.

* Some of the beat'em ups based on ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' have this kind of scenario happen courtesy of the Foot Clan, like in the source material.

** ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesShreddersRevenge'' involves the turtles and their allies watching a news column by Vernon Fenwick that gets interrupted when a package he received reveals Krang's robot head, which cuts the signal to show the Statue of Liberty get surrounded by blimps. Bebop hijacks the program to announce the Foot Clan's latest plan and warns the populace to witness it, otherwise the Foot will track them down.

** ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheManhattanProject'' starts with the Turtles watching April O'Neil's news report on New York City's skyrocketing crime rate, until their TV screen shows static. It's restored as April is held captive by Shredder, who shows Manhattan rising out of the ground, then he issues the turtles a challenge.