Interestingly, as free TV demonstrates how it can rally from the grave to which it’s been erroneously consigned, the forces that precipitated its decline find themselves enduring their own upheavals, ructions that some might not survive. The past year has brought the painful discovery that the streamers’ business model, built on the shaky premise of continued rapid growth, is unsustainable.

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The streaming services arrived looking like the long-awaited alternative to the irritations of free TV. These welcome disrupters, with their promise of entire seasons of shows available ad-free and on demand, were eagerly embraced. Oh, the glorious sense of freedom for viewers.

Reliant on subscribers for revenue, rather than advertisers, the streamers took risks, happily courting niche audiences. They spent big and produced a torrent of content. It included a lot of junk, but also some gems that wouldn’t have seen the light of day in the old world: say, The Bear, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Minx and No Activity, to name a few.

Following the avid expansion of the early days has come a reckoning as they reign in spending; cutting staff, culling libraries, cancelling commissions. Then there’s the ongoing strike by America’s writers’ and actors’ unions, which in notable part is about how these businesses pay for their essential contributions, the argument being that they don’t pay nearly enough to the majority of providers.

Arriving in Australia in 2015, Netflix led the streamers’ charge, but things have changed in the intervening years. The global behemoth that initially enjoyed a monopoly now exists in a field crowded with competitors. And, ironically, some of the former disrupters are gradually adopting the practices they once scorned: dropping episodes in weekly instalments instead of complete seasons; charging subscribers extra if they want to avoid ads.

It’s not exactly that everything old is new again, but the landscape is volatile. What World Cup finals week persuasively suggests is that, whatever the future holds, there’s still life left in free TV. Only a fool or a foolhardy rival would ignore its staying power. The world has changed, but some things remain the same.

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