it’s not the amount of episodes, really because the feedback from the public is far faster and more detailed. see, the style of storytelling - serialized with season-long story arcs - gives far less ability to show any variety or independent growth with a character. it’s all locked-in on a specified narrative path. the goal is already determined from the start. SNW is more open-ended with its more episodic format, as was the preferred format of earlier series. these allow for more varied stories, varied types of storytelling, more opportunities for character development, world building, etc. And it allows for course-correction in development of the series in response to feedback from he public that would otherwise derail the production of a series written as one, massive story arc with a planned narrative path and ending.

DS9 managed to balance both pretty well, writing most episodes in an episodic format, but frequently featuring 2-3 episode story arcs that were much easier to digest than massive, season-long story arcs and allowed for adjustments as production progressed.