Online businesses including Amazon, comparethemarket.com and moneysupermarket invested £639 million in TV during 2016, an 8% increase year on year, according to Nielsen data. The next highest spending categories were food (£627m), cosmetics and personal care (£439m), entertainment and leisure (£419m) and motors (£314m).

There were 837 new or returning (after a period away of at least five years) advertisers on TV in 2016. Newcomers included Accor Hotels, Thorntons, Huawei Technologies and David Lloyd Leisure Group. Together, new or returning advertisers accounted for 1.6% of total TV ad revenue in 2016, according to Nielsen.

The revenue figures, which include all money invested by advertisers in commercial TV across all formats and screens including linear spot and sponsorship, broadcaster VOD, and product placement are supplied to Thinkbox by UK commercial TV broadcasters and this year the increase was just 0.2% with Brexit-fueled business concerns having an impact.

Lindsey Clay, chief executive of Thinkbox, said: “Advertisers invest in TV because it works. TV is a trusted environment for brands. It is a place they want to be seen, where they can rub shoulders with high quality shows that are important parts of people’s lives. Its trustworthiness and quality are two of the reasons why TV is the most effective form of advertising.”