Channel Nine's Endless Repeats Of 'The Big Bang Theory' Might Be Over

The dreams of countless Australian TV viewers have taken a step towards becoming reality in the wake of news today that the Nine Network would be dumping a $100 million programming deal with Warner Bros, effectively relinquishing its guaranteed monopoly on re-running the studio's sitcoms such as The Big Bang Theory.

As News Corp reports, Nine has dropped the Warner deal in order to free up funds to play with when bidding for this year's rugby league broadcasting contract, with the code said to be targeting a "record-breaking" billion-dollar deal for the rights to air its games, but the upshot is that along with the deal goes Nine's assured right to broadcast repeats of The Big Bang Theory, Two & A Half Men and 2 Broke Girls, among a "vast back catalogue" of other shows now up for grabs by other Aussie networks.

However, the network isn't exactly going Big Bang-free completely — Nine has retained the rights for new episodes of the series, as long as they're being produced by Warner, and has a chance to buy back its rights to the repeats through spot-purchasing on the market, with News Corp even suggesting that it will more than likely be successful in its bid "because Warner Bros does not want to split the show between two networks".

Should Warner warm up to the idea of splitting Big Bang, though, there has apparently been considerable interest from rival networks Seven and Ten, as well as pay-TV monolith Foxtel. And, if Nine does lose the rights, it will mark a massive shift in the average evening's programming outlook — tonight alone, there are three repeat episodes of The Big Bang Theory scheduled on Nine affiliate GO! (7pm, 8.30pm, 9pm), two of 2 Broke Girls (10.30pm, 11pm) and one of Two & A Half Men (11.30pm).

There are a further two "encore" episodes of Big Bang on Sunday and Monday night, when Two & A Half Men rejoins the schedule at 11.40pm, with both shows remaining nightly staples throughout the week, reaching fever pitch on Wednesday, when GO! throws all mercy out the window and lines up three Big Bang do-overs in a row.

All that considered, it's going to be seriously interesting stuff when Nine is forced to fend off its challengers for the title of Chuck Lorre's Biggest Fan as a result of its decision with regard to Warner Bros.