This is part of my history and guide to my adopted home - Terre Haute, Indiana.
Listeners to "The Bird. The [Wabash] Valley’s only modern rock station," WXXR-LP (97.3) were astounded at around 7:30pm on Sunday, July 12, 2015, about a year after the station started brodcasting, when the station's normal broadcasting was interupted by someone claiming to be from the Anonymous hacker group who started by saying:
Greetings citizens of the world we are Anonymous. We are reaching out to you in such a direct manner because we have exhausted every other avenue. We would like to take a few minutes of your time to inform you about the United States government's plan to murder over 120 million citizens...
The interruption to the service lasted around thirty minutes:
Doug Kirkham, director of underwriting of Wabash Valley Educational Media who owned the station asked "The biggest mystery to me is why us, why such a small station in an obscure town?" Why indeed? At the time people suggested that it was a publicity stunt by the station, which Kirkham denied. Personally, I don't believe that Anonymous was behind the stunt or that the radio station were responsible.
The penalty for hijacking a signal is fines of up to $250,000 and/or a maximum of 10 years in prison. Despeite the seriousness of the hack, which is a federal offence, I can find no trace of anyone being charged.
Sources and Resources
Anonymous Hacks Indiana Radio Station (YouTube)
Hijacked Station Renews Calls for Security (Inside Radio)