Like I wrote, use your subscriptions page as your YouTube homepage, and you wont be pestered by irrelevant stuff. I also have a separate account for watching work or hobby related instructional videos or other crap, so as to not mess up the recommendations on the TV. YouTube makes it very easy to switch between several accounts.

YouTube search results are awful, can't disagree with you on that. The same for shorts. Searching for videos on Kagi or FreeTube instead of inside YouTube can be a better option. I've also noted that YouTube search results are much better on the TV than on desktop, and that they don't suggest "Others also watched.." crap there.

As for premium, I only consider it that I'm paying for the bandwidth to have the videos delivered to my computer, phone and TV without any ads. Just for that, it is incredible value already. Adding the features you list would make it even better.