"Game of Thrones", HBO's hit drama, has been renewed for a third season. The news comes as no surprise, given the record setting rating of the season 2 premiere.

HBO Programming president Michael Lombardo said,  "Series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss raised our expectations for the second season - and then surpassed them".  The premier drew 3.9 million viewers with more than 8.3 million having tuned in since then.