I have some video tapes that are over 10 years old that, most of the time, I taped things in EP/SLP on them. Naturally, the quality has deteriorated over time, but my question is...is it the program or the tape itself that is going bad?

Like should I tape over them or just throw them away if I don't need them?

Were they stored in a place that collected a lot of dust over time? I think it would be the tape itself, depending on how they were stored or used. My parents had to get rid of a lot of old video tapes because they were dusty and they feared that it would ruin the VCRs.

Nope. They've been in drawers most of the time. But I see what you're saying.