While an official announcement is still some time off, it's looking more and more like the sands will continue to run through the hourglass for years to come.

During NBC's presentation at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour on Sunday, the network's chairman, Robert Greenblatt, told reporters that DAYS' place in the NBC daytime lineup was almost certainly a done deal.

"I think DAYS is going to stick around," Greenblatt remarked, before dialing it back a bit. "I don't know that I'm at liberty to say that officially yet, but it's not going anywhere."

Days of our Lives' current contract runs through September 2013. In 2010, the network celebrated the 45th anniversary of its lone remaining soap by announcing a an additional two-year pick-up of the show and plans to broadcast DAYS in high-definition.

"This important and enduring series is an iconic part of NBC's history as well as that of daytime drama," said Bruce Evans, Senior Vice President, Current Programming, NBC Entertainment at the time.

In 2007, Jeff Zucker, then-president of NBC Universal Television, announced that DAYS was "unlikely to continue [on NBC] past 2009."