The correct dates are the weekly dates, aka the dates where the episodes are broadcasted on TV.

As per our rules, we don't take in account the Web previews of the episodes. I quote : "We usually ignore digital previews for regular television series."

It is not a Web preview, it is the original air date. You can see that on BBC iPlayer. https://i.ibb.co/n857P9Z/1-F5-EEC82-2-C3-D-4546-B83-D-D38-DDB34-A9-F1.jpg If this is considered a Web preview then do you consider all show originally released on the Web that are are broadcasting on television Web previews? Does that mean if Stranger Things started being broadcast on to now it’s air date would change? What about the air date for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds which was broadcast on tv after its “Web preview” on Paramount plus. BBC iPlayer is the streaming service of the creator of the show and has been permanently added to the service as the primary means of distribution. It says on the official site for the show that the release date for all series 4 episodes is 23rd September (source). This no more a web preview than any other show released on any other streaming service.

As indicated in the rules, for regular television series, the dates that should be used are the TV broadcast dates. It was broadcasted on BBC One from the start. As such, as long as BBC One broadcast it, it will be considered as a BBC One series. This would have been different if BBC One wasn't anymore broadcasting the series and BBC iPlayer was the only broadcaster.

Stranger Things is not a regular TV series. It was directly produced for Netflix from the start. So, it is not concerned by this rule.

To quote your own guidelines “ For recent TV series, the best source if often its official website. We try to mirror how the episodes were first released on the original network's website. When different, the data on the official website usually trumps press releases and TV listing info.” Therefore the air date is 23rd September as that is the information provided on the official website. You need to apply your guidelines consistently. If it took the episodes 6 months to be broadcast on BBC One what would the air date be then?

@DuckTheCow said:

To quote your own guidelines “ For recent TV series, the best source if often its official website. We try to mirror how the episodes were first released on the original network's website. When different, the data on the official website usually trumps press releases and TV listing info.”

The main rule is this one : "Episodes should be added exactly as they first aired on the original network (title, date, order, season). ". And for this series, the original network is BBC One.

BBC iPlayer only gives the date the episode became available on iPlayer.

If you view the programme page, you can see the broadcast date. For example, on the page for S4E4, it lists the original broadcast date as 14th October:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0d0mkkc

No that’s just the next broadcast date. In this image the one circled in blue is just whenever it was last broadcast or will next be broadcast the green circled date is the date of original broadcast.

@superboy97 said:

@DuckTheCow said:

To quote your own guidelines “ For recent TV series, the best source if often its official website. We try to mirror how the episodes were first released on the original network's website. When different, the data on the official website usually trumps press releases and TV listing info.”

The main rule is this one : "Episodes should be added exactly as they first aired on the original network (title, date, order, season). ". And for this series, the original network is BBC One.

And the original network for series 4 would be BBC iPlayer. “ When a series moves from Network A to Network B during its initial run, both networks are added.” “ For example, the first three seasons of The Mindy Project originally aired on Fox and the last three seasons originally aired on Hulu.” This should count as a network change therefore follow the dates on BBC iPlayer as “ Typically only the very first network to air the series should be added to the network list.” which for series 4 is BBC iPlayer.

@DuckTheCow said:

And the original network for series 4 would be BBC iPlayer.

The original network is evaluate at the global series level, not at the season level. It is reevaluate during the series only if the original broadcaster stop broadcasting it.

When a series moves from Network A to Network B during its initial run, both networks are added.

We aren't in that case. The show doesn't move from BBC One to BBC iPlayer, as it is still broadcasted by BBC One.

For example, the first three seasons of The Mindy Project originally aired on Fox and the last three seasons originally aired on Hulu.

In that example, Fox has stopped broadcasting the show after the first 3 seasons.

This should count as a network change therefore follow the dates on BBC iPlayer as “ Typically only the very first network to air the series should be added to the network list.” which for series 4 is BBC iPlayer.

No, this doesn't count as a network change as BBC One continue to broadcast the series.

@superboy97 said:

@DuckTheCow said:

And the original network for series 4 would be BBC iPlayer.

The original network is evaluate at the global series level, not at the season level. It is reevaluate during the series only if the original broadcaster stop broadcasting it.

When a series moves from Network A to Network B during its initial run, both networks are added.

We aren't in that case. The show doesn't move from BBC One to BBC iPlayer, as it is still broadcasted by BBC One.

For example, the first three seasons of The Mindy Project originally aired on Fox and the last three seasons originally aired on Hulu.

In that example, Fox has stopped broadcasting the show after the first 3 seasons.

This should count as a network change therefore follow the dates on BBC iPlayer as “ Typically only the very first network to air the series should be added to the network list.” which for series 4 is BBC iPlayer.

No, this doesn't count as a network change as BBC One continue to broadcast the series.

In that case you should make the guidelines more clear and add a glossary.