'Game Of Thrones' Renewed For Second Season

Briefly: Good news for George R.R. Martin fans: the ratings have just come in for the debut episode of Game of Thrones on HBO, and the network has already taken the expected step of renewing the show for a second season. The ratings for the first episode weren't amazing — Boardwalk Empire out-did Thrones in premiere numbers — but they were good enough, at 2.2 million viewers in the initial airing, and 4.2 million across all three premiere showings. But we more or less knew that a second season would happen. The sets, costumes and so forth are so expensive for this debut season that HBO almost needs another season to make money, and is probably looking forward to the eventual DVD box sets that will continue to generate revenue.

The second season will be based upon A Clash of Kings, which is the second novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series from author George R.R. Martin. [EW]