The Wall Street Journal’s John Jurgenson has a very interesting article concerning the production of the second season. Here’s a few useful statistics:

• Average of 9.3. million viewers, vs. 10.7 million for Boardwalk and a peak of 13 million for True Blood in its third season.
• First season budget of roughly $60 million (which we’ve reported before), now up roughly 15% (so $69 million, give or take—with hints that a large part of it was due to episode 9, “Blackwater”, written by GRRM.)
• 106 shooting days, 3/4ths spent with two units (“Dragon” and “Wolf”) filming simultaneously.
• For the Battle of the Blackwater, David and Dan initially wanted to build 9 ship sets. They got 1.

Also of interest? Season 3 location scouting is already going on, though there’s been no official greenlight. Expect it on Monday or Tuesday at the latest—we’re 100% confident that season 3 is a no-brainer, at this stage. The only real question is if they’ll announce they’re ordering season 4 as well (beware rumors that they’ll film two seasons back to back, however—deeply unlikely).