I was a little surprised when I asked a local AV store employee how many people connect 50"+ sets to a receiver and speakers. He said about 50/50.
Makes sense. You don't need awesome sound to watch sitcoms, soaps, and football.
Or rather, many don't
think you do. Having good sound for properly produced NFL games is wonderful. I get the commentators through the center channel, and the crowd noise everywhere else. It really feels immersive.
[yet another spell-check fail: Chrome doesn't know the word "immersive" - where on earth do they get their dictionary for these browsers?]