I can visually distinguish the times my Samsung TV is powered on on my Pi-hole dashboard just from the graphs. It's insane
Totally a problem. My Hisense TV won't stop phoning home even when using it as a dumb screen via HDMI cables. I had to create a wifi hotspot with a raspberry and black hole all internet traffic to stop it
Why not just have zero wifi credentials?
Many Smart TVs either don't work or perpetually nag you until connected to a network. I know one family member that had a "smart" sound bar that just shutoff every 6 hours until they connected it to the WiFi.
Hm I’d been thinking of buying a TV after not owning one for many years.
Guess I won’t.
I haven't purchased a TV in 8 years but it was a Sony. Never had an issue with it asking for Wifi and I've never connected it during all that time.
My guess is if you go really low end, low price like Vizio it could be an issue.
My FireTV nags both about no network and then again about not detecting a controller button press quick enough. I use it as a dumb display device and if I don't switch to HDMI quick enough using the (single!) button you can't dismiss them at all.