Exactly, if we want change the sales numbers have to go down. That means don't by LG, Samsung and who have you, it also means telling friends and family to go buy something else... but what?
In a capitalist system, most people primarily influence the expenditure of their dollars. In a democratic system, most people have their vote. In general the average person exerts an average-person-sized influence over the world.
Individual boycotts are like writing in a candidate for president
Unfortunately though I think you are right and the best thing to do is just get one that has the specs you want never connect it to the internet and just get a companion device for the connected stuff like a Shield Pro (aging device but I did not catch up to what was the cool new things for those)
The favoured platitude of people with giant wallets.
Until it becomes harder, or even impossible, to root the hardware, as even the guide states:
> DO NOT UPDATE TO WebOS 26 firmware released after 2026-10-10 like 43.21.84 (see the firmware list). Public root method got patched and this firmware currently cannot be rooted. If you will connect your TV to the internet to root it, first turn off autoupdate.
* https://tv.slada.sk/guides/rooting-guide
So if people continue to buy 'subsidized' TVs, companies will continue to produce them.
There needs to be an unsubsidized-by-ads option and people need to purchase it to show The Market™ that there exists demand for such a product. But the problem seems to be that all the current offerings are ads-based.
and ethically, what's the point in giving hostile corporate groups any money ? I get that you're breaking out of their mega subsidized and profit-locked walled garden, but 'sold units' is still a metric they'll use to positively enforce their strategies going forward, and as with all goods the vulnerabilities will get more and more exotic until totally pushed out of public availability much like the newest console gens.