One in four (26 per cent) people describe services such as Sky, Virgin and BT as necessities while nearly one in five (16 per cent) saying the same for Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu.

When asked how much more they would be willing to be for pay for their TV packages and streaming services, Generation X (35 to 44-years-old) said they would tolerate the largest subscription rises – an average of £34 extra per year. This is slightly higher than the national average of £30.

Regionally, nearly a third of Londoners (31 per cent) rate their TV packages as essential – the highest level in the country – followed by East Anglia (29 per cent) and the West Midlands (28 per cent). A quarter (25 per cent) of residents from the capital also class streaming services as essential.

Younger adults place even greater importance on TV packages, with a third of millennials (34 per cent) describing TV packages as essential compared to a fifth of over 55s. When it comes to streaming services, a quarter of Generation Z (27 per cent) and a third of millennials (34 per cent) view them as essential.

Emma Spencer, broadband expert at MoneySupermarket, said: “If you’re one of the quarter of adults that class TV packages as essential, you’ll know they can often add hundreds of pounds to your household outgoings – if not more.

“The good news is that there are ways to bring these costs down. TV packages are often sold in bundles alongside broadband and home phone lines, so one thing you can do is look at your product requirements and which ones matter the most to you. You could cut back on expensive channels you don’t watch, or you could look at your broadband requirements. As fibre is faster, it tends to be more expensive – but you might not actually need that level of speed.

“You can also shop around for a more competitive deal. With Black Friday just around the corner, there could be a host of deals coming onto the market – at a fraction of the original cost.”