It seems like watching TV in a small dorm room is a joint activity. One person says, do you want to watch TV (or do you mind if I turn on the TV?) Same thing with listening to music. Perhaps the OP can model the kind of cooperation involved here, and maybe the roommate will respond in a similar way.
Well, right now I am sitting with my laptop and headphones and what do you know-he is blasting his laptop! So, clearly, it’s not a retaliation for my TV because the TV isn’t on but just that he’s an inconsiderate jerk who wasn’t raised properly. He has woken me up every night this week at 2am eating chips, knocking things over, etc. Is it May yet?
Okay so ask him to use his headphones.
My kid shared a very small room with her best friend at a sorority. They both loved to watch TV, but they had different preference when it came to TV shows. They also liked to sleep in complete darkness. They ended up watching TV on their laptop with earphones and they also got a Japanese blind shoji between their beds so they couldn’t get glare from each other’s laptop.
By the way, this is the best noise cancellation earbuds:
https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/earphones/quietcomfort-20i-acoustic-noise-cancelling-headphones.html
You literally hear nothing.