Hi Jeffy and all,
Now why would you want the back light on to run the battery down? It draws more current than anything else, that's why it's supposed to come on only on demand and shut off after a short time out.
As for the speaker, you can only put so much in a little box stuffed with electronics. That's why we use external speakers and earphones where appropriate. That's another thing about battery life, the audio output stage draws the most current of all the electronics and the louder it is the more current it draws. In the field where battery life is at a premium a small earphone is an advantage. One small point, the receiver draws the least current when squelched so the less talking it does the longer the battery lasts. Locking out frequencies of little importance is another advantage and that includes busy radio systems that talk much and say little.
OK, I'm a battery miser but being a ham familiarized with emergency communications techniques and procedures I have learned that a dead battery makes everything so much dog poop. You may go merrily on your way never finding yourself in a bad situation but knowing the ropes just may save your butt one day. You may be thinking of two way communications but you never know when a radio receiver may become your lifeline.
"He really liked it when i programmed three TV channels in it so he can hear TV when the powers off during storms."
And that's only the tip of the iceberg, maybe you should program the local NOAA weather channel too. For what it's worth to the "base station" scanners, I wired a 12V 7.5AH battery across the wall wart leads. The wart keeps the battery charged and when or if the AC mains go out the scanner doesn't even notice. With that much reserve capacity the average scanner drawing 700mA should remain powered for slightly more than 10 hours continuous, more when used intermittently.