At Channel 10, Will Manso this week became a Lone Ranger of sorts, one man doing a job handled by three full-time sportscasters at Channel 7.

At NBC 6, not only were No. 3 sportscaster Andrea Brody and a top sports producer laid off, but sportscaster Adam Kuperstein now will split his time between news and sports, general manager Ardyth Diercks said.

At Channel 4, two sports producers have been dumped, leaving a depleted staff.

On radio, the economy has cost several people their jobs over the past several months, including Heat host Jeremy Marks-Peltz (WINZ), Larry Milian (790), and Jesse Agler (WQAM).

Local TV sports was never a particularly secure line of work, but now it's more unstable than ever.

''The 30-plus percent decline of the television advertising market this year has affected all areas of local news operations,'' Channel 10 general manager Dave Boylan said. ``But sports departments at local TV stations and local newspapers have been especially hit hard by the growing trend of people, especially young viewers, going to the Internet and cable sports channels for sports information.''

Manso, 34, said when he began working at Channel 10 a decade ago, the station had five sportscasters: full-timers Jimmy Cefalo, Frank Forte and Manso and part-timers Jim Mandich and Hank Goldberg. Now, Manso is the station's only full-time on-air talent whose primary job is sports. That's not only highly unusual for a city with four pro teams, but the first time that has happened in this market in memory.

Daunting?

''A little,'' Manso said. ``But I think it will work. It's going to be a lot more work. I'll have to report a little more.

'Colleagues say to me, `We feel for you.' [Channel 7's] Steve Shapiro is the smarty pants -- he asks me, 'How many things are you doing today?' But the other stations could be in this situation one day.''

In reality, Manso has some help -- Boylan said when Manso is off Thursday and Friday nights, sports will be handled by one of the news anchors ( Charles Perez or Laurie Jennings) or entertainment reporter/former Heat dancer Johanna Gomez, who leaves on maternity leave shortly. And Boylan said he's exploring hiring a part-time sportscaster. Manso also has two sports producers who do not appear on air.

Boylan said he never would have dropped No. 2 sportscaster John Henry Smith if not for the sour economy. (Smith's contract was not renewed when it expired June 30, and he's looking for work.)

Even when Manso worked in Missoula, Mont., and Grand Rapids, Mich., the stations had two broadcasters doing only sports.

''I didn't think anyone imagined this would happen,'' Manso said of WPLG's decision. ``But with what's happened with the economy, everything has changed so much. If you would have asked me in 1999, could this work? I would say no way. There weren't that many ways of getting information then. No blogs, no twitter. Then, people got their sports from local stations. But now, by 6 p.m., people have seen sports.''

Diercks said NBC 6's Sunday night show, Sports Final, which was dropped last week, might be revived eventually. But she said she doesn't want to overwork the few remaining sports employees on the staff.

Nationally, the most visible on-air change impacted by the economy this year was Fox's elimination of its baseball studio show with Jeanne Zelasko and Kevin Kennedy. Fox will use Chris Rose on a pregame show for Tuesday's All-Star Game.