U.K. broadcaster ITV has taken rapid strides towards meeting its mental and physical health goals and has revealed ambitious plans for more.
ITV’s 2021 Social Purpose Impact Report shows that ITV programs and initiatives directly resulted in 5.1 million people taking an action to support their mental or physical health. Some 3.5 million people connected with others as a result of “Britain Get Talking” mental wellness campaign; 1.1 million 16-34s took action to care for their mental health due to the ITV2 and Calm partnership; 500,000 children participated in the
schools “Eat Them to Defeat” Them program, which also resulted in 1 billion additional portions of vegetables sold; and 40,000 more children participated in the Daily Mile running initiative.
Overall, 67.1 million were actions taken in 2021 to support mental or physical health. ITV has a new target of encouraging the British public to take 200 million healthy actions by 2023.
In Apr. 2021, “Britain Get Talking” returned to screens with an unexpected interruption of “Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway” where hosts Ant and Dec conducted a deliberately awkward interview with champion athlete Mo Farah via text, demonstrating how text chats could be inferior to having a vocal conversation. This was followed by “The How To Chat Show,” a series of short-form programs with nine ITV celebrities, with tips on having better conversations.
ITV CEO Carolyn McCall said: “Through our programs we entertain and connect with millions of people, and we know that those people not only expect but welcome ITV using its powerful platform to make a difference in areas that really matter. Our four social purpose priorities — better health, diversity and inclusion, climate action and giving back — help us deliver that difference, both on- and off-screen through best-in-class creative and effective behaviour change initiatives.”
In terms of diversity and inclusion ITV has increased its representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff at all levels and aims to hit targets for gender, ethnicity, disability, and LGBT+ representation, the broadcaster said, adding that the representation of disabled people both on- and off-screen and in the workforce “continues to be a specific priority.”
ITV has also reduced carbon emissions in its control by 44% and the emissions it influences by 6%. And for its giving back goals, ITV has Soccer Aid for UNICEF raise £13 million ($17.1 million) to help children and those who support them get back on track during COVID-19.
Susie Braun, ITV director of social purpose said: “Our Social Purpose Impact Report shows that ITV is truly shaping culture for good – from creating shows that entertain millions to having a genuine impact on the issues our audience cares about. We’re incredibly proud of the strides we’ve made across health, climate action, diversity and inclusion as well as giving back to important causes, and we’re excited to take this momentum into another exciting year for social purpose.”