Only solution is the one given in OP. AndroidTV with another launcher eliminates all ads successfuly AND gives you the choice to also block ads/sponsors in youtube and other streaming platforms like prime video. It's the only way to truly get rid of all ads.
The apple approach would require Youtube Premium and still would not block integrated sponsor reads. It's the downside of the "golden cage"
Sponsor Ads can be blocked on the Apple TV YouTube app using iSponsorBlockTV on a home server: https://github.com/dmunozv04/iSponsorBlockTV