Headphone connection

My husband needs to use headphones to hear the tv but I have been unable to connect a set via bluetooth. I can connect to the Samsung tv but as soon as I switch to Directtv I lose the connection. I called the tech support at Direct and was told that neither speakers nor headphones can connect. So what is the answer to using headphones? There is no optical output on the tv which is what I am using on another tv in the house for headphones.