Well, of course, he was joking. Just a sound check.

I have no clue who leaked it, in what order. From a reprint of contemporaneous coverage, I gather that many technicians heard the remark.[0] And eventual news coverage mainly served to put rumors at rest.

0) https://web.archive.org/web/20180917150154/https://www.thegu...

There's some interesting videos on YouTube from people who used satellite dishes to grab unencrypted transmissions that weren't intended for the public (although I don't know if that was the case here). Things like reporters talking shit about guests during a commercial break (since commercials were spliced in later on), Bill Clinton getting his makeup done, etc. There's an interesting documentary/compilation at [1] although in my opinion it's a little overly dramatic.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdXtIJNNVZM

No, this was routine setup and testing. You had to actually record something, and play it back, to make sure that gear was working properly.

Your link reminds me of Cronenberg's Videodrome :)