Courtesy Miami Herald

(February 20, 2009) In more bad news for a sports department already lagging behind its competitors, WPLG-Channel 10 dropped its Sunday night sports show and has decided to employ only one full-time on-air sportscaster.

John Henry Smith was told his contract will not be renewed when it expires in June, which will leave Will Manso as the station's only on-air sports personality. Charles Perez, who co-anchors WPLG's weeknight newscasts with Laurie Jennings, will handle sports on nights when Smith is off, WPLG general manager Dave Boylan said.

The decision to dump Smith and the Sunday night show were economically-driven, Boylan said, and ''has nothing to do'' with Smith's performance.

''I don't expect to go through my entire career without hitting a bump in the road,'' said Smith, who will remain at WPLG until July 1.

Beginning this weekend, WPLG will replace Sports Sunday with paid programming at 11:30 p.m. ''It's not a programming move we're proud of,'' Boylan said.

``The Sunday night sports show is first or second in the ratings . . . but costing us more than we brought in.''

Boylan did not rule out the chance of the Sunday night show returning at some point.

''I'm disappointed, but I understand the way the economy is,'' Manso said.

Boylan said he will not eliminate sports from newscasts. ''The station is No. 1 in news,'' he said. ``Whatever we're doing is working.''