I'll admit to using yt-dlp to get copies of videos I wish to have a local copy of, which can't be taken away from me by somebody else, but I pay for premium because that pays for content I watch. If you don't pay for content, where's it going to come from? Patreon only works for super dedicated stars with a huge following.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t watch content that needs to be “paid for” in that way. e.g. The last several videos I downloaded for archiving were install instructions for car parts that were uploaded by the part manufacturer. (And that aren’t readily available through any other channel.)