I do something similar with an LG TV, but my point was you don't really have many good options if you want a TV that doesn't at least try to track you and the average consumer doesn't really know it's happening nor how to avoid it. Also, using a set top box on an external input is not free from tracking as most smart TVs use screengrabs and automatic content identification to figure out what you're watching even then. You can theoretically opt out deep in the settings, but it's often made confusing to do so via dark patterns.

As for network connections yeah my TV is on a firewalled VLAN that I can selectively let out if I want to do a software update, but my personal conspiracy theory is that we're gonna see cellular modems hidden in TVs at some point to pipe data back. GM got caught doing exactly that in their cars without telling anybody not long ago and I think it's already mostly forgotten. Even without that, most consumers want to plug their TV into the net anyway to watch Netflix, probably not realizing it's a poison pill.

I'm certainly not anti-"smart" appliances and I think they can add a lot of value if done well, but in response to the OP I'm saying that it's getting to the point that you're forced into it by the market regardless of your preferences. General consumers and legislators don't seem to care enough to stop bad practices via market or regulatory forces.