Issue with Incorrect Release Dates on TV Episodes

I am aware of an issue on all platforms which can occur when multiple release dates are submitted for episodic TV series (this possibly affects other types of listings as well). If a series is released in various countries, then usually the release date of an episode (ie. date of transmission) will be different in each case. The problem is that when attributes are added to a release date, which is sometimes necessary, the algorithm ignores these dates when categorising the episodes into years. It’s probably easiest to illustrate if I give a straightforward hypothetical example : The imaginary Australian TV series “Sunny Days” has three episodes, and all were first shown in Australia in 1981. However, the series wasn’t networked across the country, and each TV market scheduled it independently. The transmission dates submitted are: Episode 1.1 Australia: 1st January 1981 (Melbourne) Australia: 5th February 1981 (Sydney) Episode 1.2 Australia: 8th January 1981 (Melbourne) Australia: 12th February 1981 (Sydney) Episode 1.3 Australia: 15th January 1981 (Melbourne) Australia: 19th February 1981 (Sydney) In all cases an attribute was added to the release date to demonstrate this wasn’t a nationwide screening. A few years later in 1985 the series was shown in New Zealand. It was shown across New Zealand on the same dates. An editor knows that episode 1.2 was shown on 23rd June 1985, but isn’t able to find the dates of the other episodes, so just adds this detail to the page for episode 1.2, which then states: Episode 1.2 Australia: 8th January 1981 (Melbourne) Australia: 12th February 1981 (Sydney) New Zealand: 23rd June 1985 (no attribute required or submitted). What then happens is the algorithm ignores the two dates for Australia, due to the attribute being present , and seems to “assume” that 23rd June 1985 (the NZ date) is the overall/first date of release. Two years will then display in the drop-down box on the website and mobile site (or within the episode list on the app), with episodes 1.1 and 1.3 showing under the heading 1981, and episode 1.2 showing under the heading 1985. The way I personally get round this (when the earliest/original date of release contains an attribute and causes the above issue) is to add the attribute “TV release” to *all* the dates below that do not already have one. Using the example above, if a further release date was added without an attribute (eg. Ireland: 10th May 1987) and only the New Zealand date was amended to include an attribute, then the algorithm would “jump” to the next date without an attribute and therefore then take 1987 to be the original release date. 1987 would appear in the drop-down box/episode list rather than 1985, which would still be incorrect. I use the attribute “TV release” because this is correct, even though wouldn’t normally be required. There are likely many TV episodes or TV series on the database with the incorrect year of release displayed. Even though the correct information can be found by looking deeper into the episode page, the situation isn’t ideal. Can this be raised as an issue please? Are you aware of any other way to avoid this happening other than the “workaround” I have mentioned? If it helps, a real example of this issue I recently experienced was with the series “The Young Doctors” [tt0074077]. Many episodes had different transmission dates across Australia on original release so attributes were used as above. Someone input the date that the final episode (1.1396) was shown nationwide in New Zealand (27th May 1987), therefore 1987 appeared in the drop-down box of years with this sole episode showing under that year in the list. It now shows correctly again as I added the “TV release” attribute to the NZ date. Many thanks CaptainSiCo ✈️