Supernatural creator Eric Kripke is likely to be taking a reduced role in the show's sixth season, which was announced formally by the CW yesterday.

According to Entertainment Weekly, executive producer Sera Gamble will be stepping up to the position of showrunner, while Kripke and co-showrunner Robert Singer will be hands-on executive producers.

"Eric and Bob will be working very closely with Sera," an insider told EW. "They are not abandoning the show." Kripke has explained that plotlines currently coming to a head in the fifth season will conclude as planned, "but that doesn't mean there can't be a new story."

Alongside Supernatural's renewal, the CW also confirmed that their new hit The Vampire Diaries will be returning, but as yet no formal announcement has been made regarding a 10th season for Smallville.