The first of the videos aims to paint a disturbing, comedic picture of what a commercialised and cash-strapped ABC would look like in the future. It suggests 4 Corners has been axed and 7.30 host Sales is a contestant on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. Malcolm Turnbull, pictured on the ABC's 7.30 program, has been a strong supporter of the broadcaster in the past. ABC Friends campaign coordinator Jeff Waters said a groundswell of anger over cuts to the ABC had led to a huge increase in membership and donations to the not-for-profit organisation. "We are getting pro bono support from producers, artists and production companies to do something we could never have contemplated before," he said. ABC Friends maintain the funding cuts will compromise or abolish innovative news initiatives introduced in 2013 under funding from the Gillard government.

These include ABC Fact Check, which will disappear immediately after the election, and cuts to the number of investigative reporters working for the National Reporting Team and to News Radio. A rally outside the ABC headquarters in Ultimo after the first round of budget cuts under the Abbott government. Credit:Daniel Munoz There is also concern over the extent to which negotiations between the Coalition government and the ABC identified areas for cuts. While the campaign is not party political, it is certain to favour the ALP and the Greens. The ALP last week committed $21 million to increase the ABC's coverage of women's sport on television and digital platforms. The Greens opposed the funding cuts. New ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie. Credit:ABC

The campaign is targeting eight government-held marginals in New South Wales; three in Victoria (as well as Indi, held by independent Cathy McGowan); three in Tasmania; four in Queensland (as well as Fairfax, being vacated by Clive Palmer); and one each in Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory. Five ALP marginal seats are also being targeted. "We're throwing everything we have at changing public opinion because we see this as a crucial election for the national broadcaster," Ranald Macdonald, ABC Friends spokesman, told Fairfax Media. We're throwing everything we have at changing public opinion because we see this as a crucial election for the national broadcaster "The more than $300 million in cuts to the ABC since the Abbott-Turnbull governments came to power has routed the organisation, costing jobs, quality, and hundreds of hours of Australian-produced content." Mr Macdonald said the group was also concerned at the prospect of advertising and sell-offs emerging as issues after the election if the Coalition is returned.

The potency of campaigns around the ABC's budget was highlighted in the 1993 election when then Coalition communications spokesman Warwick Smith lost his Tasmanian seat of Bass by 40 votes. Mr Smith's seat was targeted and the campaign probably made the difference between him holding the seat and losing it. "[Without the campaign] I think my mother and her friends would have voted for me," he now jokes. Follow us on Twitter