Now that streaming services have changed the way that TV is produced and released to the public, many people are not sure what to expect from the TV “season” each year. There are some differences in the way that traditional cable TV is still created and released as compared to the process of creating and releasing streaming service content. However, as a good rule of thumb, there is just one TV season every year.
TV shows used to be more predictable in their release dates each year due to syndication and because you could not stream or view TV outside of the time of day that the show aired. As streaming services entered the market, the meaning of the word “season” for TV shows changed significantly. This is no longer a word that indicates a time of year when new content is released for shows.
What Does the Term “Season” Mean?
TV “seasons” are not really related to the months or the time of the year that the show is produced or released anymore. This is instead more of a comment on a number of episodes that were created to tell a consecutive story throughout the annual showing of the show in question. TV shows are much more likely to follow a complete story arc each year as well due to changes in the expectation of the viewers.d
That being said, there are normal periods when shows are released, and, in most cases, the fall and spring are when new episodes will be released for shows. There are sometimes delays and other reasons that a show might not debut until the winter, and many streaming services are not limited to the fall and spring release schedules that other networks try to maintain.
There might also be new content that is released in between seasons that is meant to serve as companion entertainment to the main content of a show. This is not as common for larger producers of TV content, but even Netflix sometimes holds back some content to release in the middle of the off-season for new episodes and new shows to air. It is informative to remember that the word “season” does not really refer to the time of year that a show is released and is instead a reference to the number of episodes in cohesion that are offered to the public during the calendar year.
There is One Season on TV Each Year
While it can be confusing with streaming services operating on their own unique release schedules annually, there will still typically only be one “season” for each TV show per year. That does not mean that content for all TV shows everywhere will be released at the same time or during the same month, however. You can expect that a consecutive string of episodes of content will be created and shared with the public each year for shows that maintain a production schedule to create new content.
This article was last updated on June 14, 2023 .
