If you ask the average person under 50 what network produced a list of hit shows from the last decade, you’d get some correct HBO answers and a whole lot of blank stares.
In the heyday of the Pirate Bay that was where you got shows. Today I’m a Google search away from illicit streams. This is how it should be when the alternative is 500 subscriptions, to put a twist on the famous 500 channels quote describing the attractive future of cable tv.
I'd say you're probably greatly overestimating how many people torrent or even pirate in general (in the US anyway). I'm well under your age-50 cutoff and I'd probably name you most of the networks (while freely admitting I'm somewhat of an outlier there, and also a previous but really not current user of certain illicit services).
Stuff going to one of the "big" legal streamers like Netflix is a huge deal for it having broader uptake. HBO is about the only big exclusion from that where they're still able to drive media coverage and social media conversation while having stuff locked to themselves (I've seen so much White Lotus stuff out there lately, as an example).
In the heyday of the Pirate Bay that was where you got shows. Today I’m a Google search away from illicit streams. This is how it should be when the alternative is 500 subscriptions, to put a twist on the famous 500 channels quote describing the attractive future of cable tv.