It was the week the ABC went dotty and audiences answered the call to support ABC Mental As… with 5.9 million Australians tuning in during mental health week and $1.47 million raised for mental health research to date.
The biggest cross-platform programming event the ABC has ever held, ABC Mental As… saw the broadcaster start a national conversation about mental health issues and engage its audiences in a very important issue that affects the majority of Australians in some way during their lifetime.
The challenge was to use the ABC’s storytelling resources to lead the community in breaking down some of the stigmas associated with mental illness, raise awareness of those issues and to in the process help raise some much needed funding for mental health research.
The week culminated in the Friday Night Crack Up, a live broadcast that saw some of Australia’s finest entertainers and celebrities from every network band together for this great cause.
The Friday Night Crack Up achieved a combined metro and regional reach of 2 million across ABC and ABC2 while ABC TV Mental Health programming had a combined metro and regional reach of 5.9 million viewers between 5 to 12 October. One in four Australians tuned in to ABC TV during this landmark week of programming. (Source: OzTAM and RegionalTAM)
Another highlight of the week Changing Minds, a documentary series set inside the mental health unit at Liverpool Hospital and described in The Age as “possibly the most memorable, gripping and thought-provoking three hours of TV you’re likely to see”, achieved a combined metro and regional audience of 780,000. (OzTAM and RegionalTAM)
The ABC’s managing director Mark Scott said the initiative, an idea that started with Andrew Denton, David Bassanese and Professor Pat McGorry, was the perfect role for the public broadcaster.
“Mental As has been about engaging our national audience through our storytelling expertise to tackle a complex issue,” Mr Scott said. “It was ambitious but it was also exactly what a public broadcaster should be about, giving a platform to a national conversation.
“Millions of Australians have watched, listened and learned and I could not be prouder of the results.”
Professor Pat McGorry, who joined with ABC Mental As through the Society for Mental Health Research, said in his view the initiative had “changed Australia.”
“The inspiring and unrelenting national focus on mental health from all angles has been extraordinary and nothing of this scope and reach has ever happened anywhere,” he said.
“The key question is can we maintain the momentum and can we translate this into reform investment and a fair deal for the millions of Australians with mental ill health.”
The Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove also lent his support as a guest during the Friday Night Crack Up.
“Mental ill health doesn’t discriminate, people from all walks of life and all economic areas… all of them can suffer from mental health issues,” he said.
“I think we’ve got to be on the front foot over this, we have to ensure that if we’re feeling vulnerable and exposed, fragile ourselves that we put our hand up and if you see in the workplace or the family, that there is someone whose suffering get on to them and say don’t suffer in silence.”
Included in the almost $1.5 million raised for the SMHR was $89,300 of artwork donated by some of our leading artists, including Reg Mombassa, Ben Quilty and Del Kathryn Barton.
And items donated by the Mental As ambassadors including Maggie Beer, Todd Sampson and ABC presenters Jeremy Fernandez and Emma Alberici raised another $15,000.
The SMHR and ABC also thanked the Medibank Health Research Fund for their $75,000 donation to SMHR, and APN Outdoor who donated an extensive outdoor billboard campaign in support of ABC Mental As…
Sincere thanks are also extended to the partner organisations from the mental health sector whose support was invaluable.
ABC Mental As… was not just a success in terms of audience share but also saw fantastic engagement through social media. The ABC saw 145,000 visitors and 176,000 visits to Mental As Content across ABC Online during Mental Health week. (Source: Webtrends)
Many ABC audience members voiced their support on social media with more than 33,000 hashtag mentions and 2,479 donate link clicks. Comments included;
“Amazing to see programs on mental illness for a whole week. Good on ABC TV for being so groundbreaking”
“I don't know about you, Earth, but at the end of ABC Australia's Mental As week, I reckon I am a better and richer person.”
Even renowned actor and comedian Stephen Fry was in on the act, Tweeting his support: “Australians unite to raise funds for mental health live on ABC this Fri 10th. Fun starts 7.30 – donate at http://ab.co/donate #mentalas”
Beyond the programming and the fundraising, ABC Mental As… was about initiating conversations with each other. And as The Age wrote in an editorial on October 11, ABC Mental As… more than achieved this.
“Broadcasts and public forums, many hosted by the ABC, all helped draw the conversation about mental health out of the dark corner, where it too often resides, and into the light,” The Age wrote.
“This is to be applauded because, while mental illness is remarkably common in our community, it is for the most part still discussed in whispers.”
For more information on mental health issues and how the money raised will be used to fund mental health research visit www.abc.net.au/mentalas