They already sell displays. Integrating ATV hardware into a display is not a big step.
Apple doesn't have the retail floorspace to stock or sell 50" TVs, they don't have experience with cable tuners and all of the other associated crap that distinguishes a TV from a simple display, and they don't have in-home warrantee repairmen; expecting the purchaser to schlep a 50" behemoth to the genius bar for service is out of the question.