Yeah I saw it around here too. One congregation had probably over half of its publishers listening over the tie-in because of laziness. I went there to give a talk and was surprised at how many people weren't there.
It started happening in my old hall. People starting listening to the tie-in just because. They eventually changed it so you had to be 'approved' to get the tie-in info. They approved the older sick people, which is fair in my opinion.