Really, I have to authorise a DISPLAY to play iTunes protected content?

Hi, last night I received a warning that the DISPLAY I am using is not authorised to play iTunes protected content.

I thought it was only computers that required authorisation to play protected content. When did my old TV start requiring authorisation?

Details:

I bought an iTunes season pass for Season 6 of Walking Dead last year. I watched the first 8 episodes in 2015 not long after they were made available on iTunes. All that went without a hitch. Pretty much haven't used iTunes for anything except music since.

Then, earlier this week I received notification that episode 9 was available. Last night I tried to watch it via my iPad. The iPad is running iOS 9.2.1 and the episode downloaded without incident.

I play the content by connecting the iPad to an old Sony LCD TV via an HDMI cable and adaptor. The TV is well over a decade old, it isn't smart but handles this sort of thing fine. Or it used to.

When I tried watching the new season pass episode last night I get the following smack down from iTunes: "This display is not authorised to play protected content".

That's it. No help, no alternatives, just a brutal take down.

Can anyone offer any guidance on what I can do to resume the apparently illicit act of watching iTunes protected content that I paid for and downloaded onto my own iPad to watch on my own unsmart TV in the privacy of my own home again?