Last time I looked, dumb TVs were expensive and hard to find. I assumed that is because the manufacturer can make fat bank off Netflix, Amazon, et al. by including their apps. Not to mention the possible revenue made off this kind of secret monitoring. That probably makes a huge difference in a low margin business like TV manufacturing.

Disable UPnP, run a configuration where you can monitor all traffic in and out of your network.

> Ask for network access Assuming you have a decent router that supports wpa2 I find it difficult to believe a TV would crack it.

Agreed, but. Most just bug you about 'updates' ad nausem until you have a moment of weakness and punch it in. At least some will autoconnect to open wifi. Sure YOURS is locked down, but what about your neighbors? Just 'turning it "off"' is not enough for even casual security.

Exactly what you said. Even if I do my very best to secure my router and blacklist the TV's Mac address (and never give it the wifi password), how do I know that my neighbours won't mistakenly let their WiFi open for a day or two until they realize their mistake? Or if I tether my mobile data from my phone and turn into a router, that I might forget to secure it?

All it takes is one small slip.

I'd rather never take the risk. I'll just look for a dumb huge TV; I need 65+ inches, good luck to me, right?

You can usually unplug the Wifi module, if you don't mind opening it up (and checking beforehand if it is removable).

Good luck

All hardware is removable if you own a soldering iron ;)