The deal, between Ten and production company Bell-Phillip Television's distribution arm BBL Distribution, effectively locks the series to Ten indefinitely.

The show's executive producer Bradley P. Bell said the deal illuminated the "special chemistry" the show has with the Australian market.

Bell also complimented Ten, which he said was "an outstanding broadcast partner, for which we are grateful."

"In television, a long-term commitment like this is rare. We are elated to celebrate this amazing joint achievement," he said.

Although most television series are sold on a "run of series" basis, contracts typically include a variety of exit clauses.

The "run of series" agreement generally means that even if a studio output deal changes channels, existing programs remain with the broadcasters which launched them.

It is why, for example, when the 20th Century Fox output deal in Australia switched from Ten to Seven, shows such as The Simpsons and The X-Files remained on Ten.

A so-called "lifetime" deals mean that so long as the show is in production, the broadcaster has agreed to buy it.

The Bold and the Beautiful, which launched in 1987, is now more than 7000 episodes old and airs in the US on the CBS network.

It was created by Bell's parents, William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell.

Though it is not technically a spin-off to the Bells' earlier soap, The Young and the Restless, the two programs share a continuity and have, on occasion, featured each other's characters in storylines.

A similar "lifetime" arrangement exists between the Australian Seven Network, which produces the soap Home and Away, and that show's British broadcaster Channel 5.

Channel 5 poached Home and Away from its rival ITV in 2000 in a then-record £40 million deal, and Seven and Channel 5 entered into a "lifetime" agreement for the show.