NBC Renews 'Days of our Lives'

The cast of Days of our Lives. Pictured: (l-r) Eric Martsolf as
Brady Black, Judie Evans as Adrien Kiriakis, Jen Lilley as Thersea
Donovan, John Aniston as Victor Kiriakis, Meredith Scott Lynn as Anne
Milbauer, Josh Taylor as Roman Brady, Peggy McCay as Caroline Brady,
Stephen Nichols as Steven Johnson, Mary Beth Evans as Kayla Brady,
Greg Vaughan as Eric Brady, Alison Sweeney as Sami Brady, Drake
Hogestyn as John Black, Christopher Sean as Paul Narita, Deidre Hall as
Dr. Marlena Evans, Bill Hayes as Doug Williams, Susan Hayes as Julie
Willimas, Kate Mansi as Abigail Deveraux, Robert Scott Wilson as Ben
Rogers, Kristian Alfonso as Hope Brady, Missy Reeves as Jennifer Horton,
Suzanne Rogers as Maggie Horton, Casey Moss as JJ Deveraux, Camila
Banus as Gabi Hernandez, James Reynolds as Abe Carver, Sal Stowers
as Lani, A. Martinez as Eduardo, Thaao Penghlis as Tony DiMera, Bryan
Dattilo as Lucas Roberts, Lauren Koslow as Kate Roberts, Joe Mascolo
as Stefano DiMero, Billy Flynn as Chad DiMero -- (Photo by: Chris
Haston/NBC)

Iconic daytime soap opera Days of our Lives, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, has been renewed by NBC for another year (through September 2017), with an option for a second year (through September 2018), according to Deadline.com's Nellie Andreeva.

The news comes just a few weeks after NBC's Winter Television Critics Association (TCA) presentation, which focused on the network's primetime and late night programming.

The previous Days renewal was announced a few days following the 2014 Winter TCAs, giving fans hope that a similar pattern would occur.

Things looked bleak for the Sony Pictures Television-produced show's future chances last summer with record low ratings and strong viewer dissatisfaction, but a writing change and the anniversary hype led to increased ratings during the fall. For the week of January 4-8, 2016, Days averaged 2.91 million viewers, its highest weekly total in 2 years.