BINGO!
Exactly right. Over the last several years webmasters have been bitching about the tubes. Taking all the traffic and then buying up all the programs. I get it. Scary times. But those of us who are left in the biz have lived to tell the tale.
Now, today, it's a New World Order. And most of the shit-tier sponsors have disappeared. Those that are left are solid (for the most part).
The industry has self-corrected over the last several years. You can now subscribe to the entire Brazzers network for $100/yr. That's a good value, IMO. And I think surfers will recognize that more and more. PornPros, TeamSkeet, RealityKings, PornNerd, and on and on... all of those networks are worth ~ $100/yr -- if for nothing else, the convenience of not dealing with torrents, viruses, low-quality tube vids, etc.
But I think the biggest problem -- even bigger than the "porn is free" mentality -- is trust. Paysites have been fucking over surfers for so long (banging cards, hidden fees, unwanted cross-sells, etc.), people are rightly scared to pull out a credit card.
But again, I think the remaining networks are slowly fixing that. MindGeek et al. are thinking long-term. They want to keep customers happy for years, and they're less concerned about instant windfall profits.
All of that to say... I think the future is bright for (some) paysite networks. Though I admit I developed that perspective only recently.
Yep. I think the worst of the storm has passed. Bright future in porn.
