The Ticket's Dan Le Batard proved you can do a successful sports-talk show by incorporating comedy and talking heavily about nonsports fare, and other hosts have followed. Hosts are skewing much younger -- some hired in the past year weren't even alive when former WQAMers Hank Goldberg and Ed Kaplan broke into the business.

And in a move that was long overdue, our sports-talk landscape has become much more diverse, with multiple Hispanic hosts (Le Batard, Larry Milian, Alan Strauss, Jorge Sedano, Orlando Alzugaray), one black host ( Jason Jackson) and a prominent woman ( Lesley Visser) contributing on WFTL-640.

With so many changes locally, here is a quick primer on the WQAM and 790 personalities who have launched weekday shows since the start of 2007:

JORGE SEDANO

• The show: noon-3 p.m. weekdays on 790.

• The skinny: Born in New York, moved here as a child, attended Miami Pace High and FIU. Previously hosted a show on 940, Heat games on WIOD and an overnight show on Fox Radio (he still hosts on Fox on Sunday nights).

• You might not know: Sedano, 30, is a third-degree black belt, having dabbled in mixed martial arts for 20 years. ''I thought about being a lawyer,'' he said. ``I had a knack for wanting to argue.''

• The approach: Loud, animated and -- like 790's Sid Rosenberg -- mixes ''guy talk'' with sports. ''When I started, it was all about X's and O's, but things started to change,'' he said. ``It's no longer about just the men 25-to-54 demographic. A lot of stations want men 18 to 34. You can do half and half between pop culture and sports, and it grows your audience. This isn't Disney radio.''

JASON JACKSON

• The show: 2-4 p.m. weekdays on WQAM.

• The skinny: Jackson, 36, is the best known of this group because of his prior jobs at WSVN (1994-95) and ESPN (1996-2002), his current gig as the Heat's TV host on Sun Sports since 2004 and Dolphins postgame radio shows. He grew up in Ohio and attended Bowling Green State University.

• You might not know: A drummer who performed at parties as a teenager, Jackson won a Sports Emmy as an ESPN anchor in 1996.

• The approach: ''It's very different, and that's our intent,'' he said. ''We are info-taining. I don't try to go the straight negative [route] of sports-talk, which tends to dominate the landscape. We put a lot of effort into production.'' Being the only black radio host in the market is ``always going to mean something to me because I'm a generation removed from segregation. I had parents who fought in the civil rights movement.''

JONATHAN ZASLOW

• The show: 7-10 p.m. weeknights on 790 when the Marlins aren't playing; 10 p.m.-midnight otherwise.

• The skinny: Attended North Miami Beach High, the University of Central Florida and then UF, from where he graduated. As a student, he listened to Jim Rome while driving with his father and concluded, ''I can do what he's doing.'' Was a midday producer for Craig Minervini, and then Jon Sciambi before getting his own show when Sciambi left in March.

• You might not know: Zaslow, 27, played on the NMB basketball team but was inserted only in blowouts.

• The approach: ''A lot of people say it has to be guy talk and pop culture, and there's nothing wrong with those shows, but I don't believe that,'' he said. ''I want to do a show that's very sports-heavy, and it doesn't have to be sports-nerdy. It's a pretty hard-core sports fan base if you're listening in the evening.'' Zaslow has positioned himself as an NBA/Heat expert. ''I needed a niche to differentiate myself, and that's my favorite team by far,'' he said.

DAMON AMENDOLARA

• The show: 8-11 p.m. weeknights on WQAM.

• The skinny: Grew up in Warwick, N.Y., attended Syracuse University, worked at a WQAM sister station in Fort Myers and for 4 ½ years in Kansas City before joining WQAM in January.

• You might not know: Under the incorrect impression that Amendolara, 29, called him a liar last year, Chiefs coach Herman Edwards 'got in my face something awful on the practice field and told me, `If I was your age right now, I would kick your [butt].' '' The video has been popular on the Internet.

• The approach: Amendolara has an unhurried speech pattern and takes his time to develop points -- unlike some in an often rapid-fire medium -- and always treats callers respectfully. ''I grew up listening to WFAN in New York, and it got bothersome when hosts cut off callers, were confrontational,'' he said. ``To me, it's a sign of insecurity. If you take the time to call, I'm going to hear what you have to say.''

DOS AMIGOS

• The show: The Ticket's Milian and Strauss were chosen among more than 100 applicants -- and a dozen who auditioned -- for a weekend show beginning in 2006. They got their own weeknight show 14 months ago and now broadcast 10 p.m. to midnight on nights without Marlins games, and midnight to 2 a.m. on Marlins weeknights.

• The skinny: Milian, 40, went to Coral Park High and Miami-Dade Community College and once ran the country's most successful flag-football league. Strauss, 28, attended MAST Academy and UM and was a news writer for Channel 10 and a researcher for ABC's World News Tonight.

• You might not know: Strauss and Milian have other full-time jobs -- Milian as a consultant for a radio engineering firm, Strauss as co-founder of a company that creates and stages sports events.

• The approach: The show, which beat WQAM in the most recent ratings book, is ''85 percent English, 15 percent Spanish,'' Strauss said. ''We can't oversaturate people with Spanish for fear we'll turn off the English-language listeners.'' Said Milian: ''At first, we weren't taken too seriously,'' but that has changed. ``We're affable. People realize we're cool.''