Yeah but if you take Netflix for example they might be a premium service but for example, The Walking Dead, they are about a whole season behind in releases last I heard.
I would imagine that people who typically watch shows after they have completely released all episodes of the whole series or season are more content with getting a higher stream quality as a result of an extended wait.
But really, we consume media faster than ever and most people I think, are willing to sacrifice 1080p for something like 720 or 480p so they can watch it just a few hours after release.