Before streaming existed, most American households — roughly 105 million of the 122 million total — paid for cable. That’s because while cable was the only game in town. It also, for a long time, offered an excellent value for your money.
Yes, everyone got a lot of channels they paid for but never watched. But you paying for channels I like and me doing the same for you meant that both of us got what we wanted. The system worked specifically because everything was bundled with only premium experiences being offered a la carte (and even then, you needed a base package before you could purchase any premium channels).
Streaming changed that and it essentially created a system where consumers pay a lot more per “channel” than they previously did but being able to get exactly what they want. That system gives you less for more, but presumably, everything you pay for has a very high value to you.
And, with so many streaming players, we now have a meritocracy. People pay for channels (more services than channels really) that have shows they want to watch. It’s really that simple. I pay for Disney+ because I love Marvel and Star Wars. Every episode of every series created in those universes feels like an event to me, and that certainly justifies the subscription cost.