Moneysupermarket has topped a list of the biggest TV advertisers by airtime in April, according to information compiled by data science company 4c.

Moneysupermarket came in at number one with 2,438 minutes of TV airtime across both free and pay-to-view TV. That was up 67% compared to the previous month and 58% year on year and meant it rose up the rankings from fourth to first.

In total, three brands – Moneysupermarket, Samsung and Oral-B – all aired in excess of 2,000 minutes of ads last month, while Airbnb, in 10th spot, aired 1,303 minutes, well above the brand occupying the final position in March. Andy Nobbs, SVP for EMEA at 4C Insights says April was “much more competitive” than March in part due to the timing of Easter.

Moneysupermarket’s jump to the top comes as it launches a big new campaign encouraging consumers to switch their energy bill. The ad, created by Mother, features cartoon villain Skeletor showing his softer side after he saves money by using the price-comparison site.

The social engagement winners

In terms of social engagement, the winner in March was Marks & Spencer, which saw 59,044 social engagements around its TV ads, giving it a ‘TV social lift impact’ of 232.8%. It was followed by Waitrose, Morrisons, Lidl and Amazon as retailers upped their marketing and social media activity around Easter.

4C assesses the TV ads generating the greatest consumer response on social media by using its TV monitoring network to determine when an ad is shown on TV and then measuring public posts on Facebook and Twitter during the ad and for two minutes after it starts airing. This is then compared to the brand’s base rate to see which TV ads are generating the most social engagement.