"and quite frankly i don't get how you think they're going to monitize them outside of streaming"

That's my point. Prior to streaming, the studios had zero cost effective way to monetize dated content - old TV specials and short-lived shows, B movies going back to the 50s - and it's still their best option. Most of it isn't being aired on TV. Half the time no one is even putting it out on DVD, or maybe they did once in 1997 and now they're on ebay for $50 each. Maybe there's a grainy rip on Youtube from a VHS release. I'm not talking about Firefly or Veronica Mars, which are recent and had a cult following (though I'll argue that VM needed Netflix for the Kickstarter, if only because I'm one donor who heard about and watched the show via Netflix and not when it aired) - I'm talking about the John Stamos TV series that was cancelled in 2001 after one season, or The Don Rickles Show, which lasted a season (random examples). It's not all good, but Netflix has proven there's a niche audience for almost anything. What benefit do the studios gain from offering it to Netflix or Amazon or another service at a low cost? Well, it's better than the $0 they were making before from this stuff when there was no cost effective way to release it. And it's not the studios that invested in creating that innovation, it's Netflix, Amazon etc. who built the platforms and the broad audiences on their own dime, so the cost to them really is minimal. So why aren't we seeing tons more of this forgotten content come on to streaming platforms, even if it's for a limited time to see if there's enough interest for a DVD release? (I do understand and accept the time limitations, unlike others on this thread). Why does there seem to be even less of it now than there was 5 - 7 years ago? The only explanation I can come up is that the studios want more than the streaming services are willing to pay, and the studios would rather look a gift horse in the mouth and sit on content than admit that without the streaming platforms this content essentially has no value. I'm open to other arguments or explanations, but I haven't seen a good one yet. Btw, it's monetize. It's one thing write condescending responses to every single person on a thread who disagrees with you, and it's another to be condescending and use incorrect spelling.