Yeah content creators have leverage over them because they give Plex money. I would wager the vast majority of Plex users don't have Plex pass. Also the fact that they have a lifetime subscription means there are people who could be paying but aren't anymore. So they need some sort of way to get more recurring revenue.

I'd much rather they include some free programming I can ignore than do something like take away my lifetime pass and make me start paying monthly again like a lot of places have done.