These were the most watched programs or events during the week of 12/7-12/13 on local cable networks in Kansas City:

1. ESPN – MNF: Baltimore @ Green Bay, Monday, December 7th
2. ESPN – College Basketball: Kansas @ La Salle, Saturday, December 12th
3. TNT – The Closer, Monday, December 7th
4. USA – WWE Entertainment, Monday, December 7th
5. ESPN – Heisman Trophy, Saturday, December 12th 7-8p
6. USA – WWE Entertainment, Monday, December 7th 8p-9p
7. ESPN – College Football: Appalachian State vs. Montana, Saturday, December 12th
8. BRAVO – Top Chef, Wednesday, December 9th 9-10p

Since sporting events and specials are so popular, these are some of the things that will be coming up that viewers will be watching:

· Big 12 Basketball (Current-Mar)
· SAG Awards (Jan. 23rd)
· NBA All-Star Weekend (Feb. 12th-14th)
· Winter Olympics (Feb. 12th-28th)
· NASCAR (Feb-Nov)
· LFRC Academy Awards (Mar. 7th)
· Royals (Mar-Sept)
· Kid’s Choice Awards (Mar) – 1-sheet coming soon

Other program news of note:
· Season 2 of Leverage continues January 13th on TNT.
· Southland premieres on TNT January 12th.
· The 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards air simultaneously on TBS and TNT January 23rd.
· TBS’s Lopez Tonight will air new episodes beginning January 11th.
· Season 3 of Bravo’s hit series Millionaire Matchmaker premieres January 19th.
· USA’s new drama White Collar has been picked up for a 2nd season. Season one continues Jan. 20th.

It didn’t take long for AT&T to fight back against the Verizon campaign labeling the iPhone as a “broken toy” because it’s 3G network coverage is poor.  You can read more about it here.  I think it was smart to immediately strike back, but is the rebuttal strong enough to overcome the damage that has been done?

It’s no secret that AT&T had been winning the battle for customers because they had the most popular smartphone and while there are some very good alternatives to the iPhone now like the Droid , BlackBerry Storm, T-Mobile G1, and  Palm Pre  just to name a few, none of them will out ”cool” the iPhone.  I do however love the fact that Verizon took their strength and ran with it!  They turned the argument back around to the claim that they have the best 3G network in the country.

My problem with AT&T’s come back is that while they are trying to argue that they have a strong nationwide coverage area, they say they have the best 3G “experience”.  To me, it’s almost giving Verizon affirmation of their claims by playing around with the label.  Verizon claims AT&T’s 3G coverage isn’t very good and they respond with, “well ours is faster!”  At least they do it with some humor.  Directly going after your competitor by name and punching them in the mouth doesn’t come without the risk of getting a return blow.  You’d better be ready for it.

At the end of the battle consumers will have to make a choice between getting the iPhone and dealing with AT&T’s “fast” but lesser than 3G network, or having the coverage they want with an almost-as-hip-as-the-iPhone mobile device.  Either way, I get a kick out of watching these two giants battle it out!  Don’t you?

What do you think of  the campaigns?  And where’s Kansas City’s own Sprint fit into this?