September 18th, 2008 12:44 pm

Bitten Twice

Alan Ball’s new vampire drama True Blood on HBO has already been given the green-light for a second season. The show has seen a significant audience boost for the cable network jumping up 24% from 1.4 million viewers during its premiere to 1.8 million viewers.

According to HBO’s West Coast Programmer Michael Lombardo, the ratings uptick factored in minimally into the pay cabler’s decision to renew “True Blood.”

“There was no way creatively we didn’t want this show on the air for another year, but (the ratings spike) probably gave us the kick in the butt we needed to pick it up early,” he said, noting that making that decision now will allow HBO and Ball time to get season two on the air by next summer.

“It was always our intention to air (the premiere) during the summer, but the writers strike put a damper on that,” Lombardo added.

True Blood stars Anna Paquin, Rutina Wesley, Michael Raymond-James, Jim Parrack, Alexander Skarsgård and Australia’s Ryan Kwantan (Home and Away, Summerland) and comes from acclaimed writer Alan Ball (Six Feet Under, American Beauty).

Source: Variety