How I Met Your Mother, currently in its eighth season on CBS, is nearing a deal for a ninth and most likely final run to air during the 2013-14 season, The Hollywood Reporter said.

News of a pickup was announced with a tweet from the series' production account, but The Hollywood Reporter has since learned that the green light most likely won't come until after the Christmas holiday weekend.

This comes after months of co-creators and co-showrunners Craig Thomas and Carter Bays saying that they were approaching the series' natural end.

As this season inched closer to that moment, one of the last remaining details in securing the pickup for nine was renewing contracts with all five of the cast members: Alyson Hannigan, Neil Patrick Harris, Josh Radnor, Jason Segel and Cobie Smulders.

Logistically, the showrunners have also had to consider the narrative's central and often restrictive timeline -- which is leading up to Radnor's character meeting the titular mother of his children. The show had received a two-season pickup in 2011 that brings it through this spring. How I Met Your Mother has been one of CBS' most-dependable ratings performers since it premiered in 2005. And though it is currently down compared to this time last year, the 2011-12 season broke series records.

Season eight is currently averaging a 3.1 rating among adults 18-49 and just over 8 million viewers on Monday nights. It does get one of broadcast TV's most significant DVR boosts, however, growing 35 percent to a 4.2 adults rating in Live+7 ratings.