But local sportscasts still serve an important purpose -- especially in this market. Ranking the stations:

(1) Channel 7 and (1A) NBC-6. WSVN-7 earns the top spot -- with NBC-6 close behind -- because both stations devote far more time to sports on their late newscasts than channels 4 and 10. WSVN's 10:50 p.m. weeknight report runs 3 ½ minutes or more (a benefit of the station having the market's longest late newscast). NBC 6's

11:27 p.m. weeknight sportscast usually runs three minutes, or close to it.

The extra time not only allows WSVN and NBC-6 to air longer highlight packages for Heat, Panthers, UM and Marlins games than their competitors, but it also creates more time for big stories, such as National Signing Day on Wednesday.

And give WSVN credit for recently becoming the market's only station to run a nightly ticker with pro and college scores. NBC-6, meanwhile, provides the most comprehensive coverage of local college sports, and it aggressively reported the UM offensive coordinator search.

Channel 7's Sunday night show serves up the most offseason NFL news because of the weekly segment with agent Drew Rosenhaus and the NFL guests he brings with him.

WSVN and NBC-6 have credible staffs -- Steve Shapiro/Mike DiPasquale/Donovan Campbell at WSVN and Joe Rose/Adam Kuperstein/Andrea Brody on NBC 6. Kuperstein is the market's best No. 2 sportscaster in years, and his ''rank-it-up'' of five offbeat stories -- which closes the Sunday night show -- has become the most creative segment on local sports television.

But the gag in which Rose and Kuperstein bet on the Super Bowl -- with the loser (Kuperstein) kissing a pig on-air -- was way over the top.

(3) Channel 4. WFOR has a highly capable lead anchor in Kim Bokamper -- actually, Bokamper needs to be cloned so he can serve as both the anchor and the analyst on the Sunday night show. No. 2 anchor Prim Siripipat has improved considerably after a shaky start.

WFOR deserves credit for providing the most volume on weekends: It's the market's only station now airing a 30-minute Saturday show

(Sportszone at 7 p.m.). And WFOR carries two Dolphins shows on Sunday mornings during the NFL season. The problem is that WFOR's weeknight sportscast usually is the shortest in the market -- often in the 1:30 range, and barely a minute one night this week. That's too short for a market with so many teams.

(4) Channel 10. WPLG's fourth-place finish is no reflection on Will Manso -- who is on par with the market's other lead anchors -- or John Henry Smith. But Channel 10's 11:31 p.m. weeknight sportscast has shrunk over the years and now runs about 1:45 -- half the length of WSVN's.

Exceptional for many years in news coverage, WPLG has suffered in sports because of its inability to find a credible NFL analyst during Dolphins season and/or a worthy general sports commentator since Jim Mandich left years ago.

Some of the decisions on the Sunday night sports show are mystifying. WPLG offers by far the fewest highlights and analysis of Dolphins games. Instead of carrying a ticker with scores (as it did several years ago), Channel 10 instead devotes a segment to short, repetitive text messages from viewers.

The Sunday night show's format is stale, primarily ''Will's Thrills,'' a segment better suited for a market the size of Boise, Idaho.

Incidentally, over the past five weeks, Channel 7 had the highest-rated Sunday night sports show (2.6), followed by Channels 6 and 10 (2.1) and Channel 4 (1.3).