Apple TV does not turn off TV via HDMI-CEC when AirPods are connected

I want to report what I believe is a design flaw in tvOS related to HDMI-CEC behavior. I use an Apple TV with a Hisense TV, and HDMI-CEC works perfectly in all normal situations. When I put the Apple TV to sleep, the TV turns off as expected. However, if AirPods are connected to the Apple TV, the TV does NOT turn off via CEC. The moment I disconnect the AirPods and put the Apple TV to sleep again, the TV turns off immediately.

For a long time I assumed this was a poor HDMI-CEC implementation by Hisense. After testing extensively, it is clear that the problem is entirely on the Apple TV side. The exact same setup works reliably depending only on whether AirPods are connected or not. From a user perspective, this behavior makes no sense. Audio output choice should not block a basic CEC power command. If I explicitly put the Apple TV to sleep, it should always send the CEC power off signal to the TV, regardless of whether AirPods are connected.

This has been happening across multiple tvOS versions and does not seem to be a bug, but an intentional decision. If so, it should at least be optional or clearly documented.

Apple TV is currently breaking standard HDMI-CEC behavior and shifting the blame to TV manufacturers unfairly. I hope Apple acknowledges this and either fixes it or provides a setting to control this behavior.