To be fair, in my work and personal life, I often delete much that I think is of no value at the time. After the fact, I end up wanting to kick myself for deleting it.
Storage costs are insanely cheap today compared to the past, those magnetic tapes had much more pressure for reuse if the possible future archival value didn’t keep them hands-off. Magnetic backup tapes were destined for re-purpose after their holding period not so long ago, ask anyone in the server realm.
Apparently the entire Monty Python collection was saved from destruction by the BBC by Terry Jones.