All these streaming companies battle for long term user acquisition, thus perpetual $10/month subscription per service for X providers is definitely a no-go lon

All these streaming companies battle for long term user acquisition, thus perpetual $10/month subscription per service for X providers is definitely a no-go long term. I think a middle ground would be shareware-like pay-per-view type model. Are you creating a new series? Make the first episode freely watchable, and then don't price excessively the entire season. As a consumer would make sense for me to pay 5$ for a season of show X on Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max/etc. But allow me to watch the thing I payed for perpetually in the future, as long as the show is still on the platform. And when I'm looking for something new to pay for, allow me to see the first episode of existing shows for free. Would that work for all consumers? I don't know, most people I know with streaming subscriptions, barely actively watch shows and very often those are standins for background noise.