 The season aired on Nickelodeon , which is owned by Viacom , and was produced by United Plankton Pictures and Nickelodeon . The season 's executive producers were series creator Stephen Hillenburg and Paul Tibbitt , who also acted as the series ' showrunner . Due to the success of the show , the New York Daily News reported that Nickelodeon picked up SpongeBob SquarePants for an eighth season on December 14 , 2009 , during the year which the show was celebrating its tenth anniversary on television . Brown Johnson , president of animation for Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids & Family Group , announced the renewal of the series . The season was ordered with 26 episodes , that would bring the total number of episodes for the series to 178 . With its episode count of 178 , SpongeBob SquarePants surpassed Rugrats in episodes to claim the spot as the Nickelodeon series with most episodes . Johnson said " After a decade on our air , SpongeBob has emerged as one of the most beloved and popular characters in television history . Audiences of all ages have fallen in love with this show and we 're delighted to be serving up additional original episodes to our viewers for many years . " 
