The good news is that The mtn. is finally going to start broadcasting college football games in high definition!

The bad news is that it won't start doing so until the middle of November.

The good news is that BYU will be featured in two high-def telecasts on The mtn. this fall, and Utah will be featured in one!

The bad news is that BYU will be on The mtn. seven times this fall, and Utah will be on the channel six times.

Not only will the Utah-at-BYU game on Nov. 28 be in HD, but so will the BYU-at-New Mexico game on Nov. 14 .

They're making progress at The mtn. Slow progress, but progress.

And at least the folks who run the channel are acknowledging that non-HD telecasts are a problem.

"We said last year that we would work to expand our HD offerings and we are delivering on that promise," said Kim Carver, vice president and general manager of The mtn. in a prepared statement.

"The mtn. recognizes that the HD viewing experience is second to none, especially when watching sporting events, and we will continue to work to develop our HD product moving forward."

Yeah, well, it's pretty much reached the point where HD is not a bonus, it's a necessity. Particularly now that more and more people have wide-screen sets.

A standard definition telecast on a high-def TV looks terrible.

OVERALL, ABOUT HALF the Ute and Cougar football games this fall will be in high-definition.

Leading up to the season finale in Provo, six Utah games will be seen on Versus, CBS C, ESPN or ESPNU; five BYU games will be in HD on Versus, CBS C, ESPN or ESPN2.

The instate showdown will be in HD on both The mtn. and CBS C.

Remember, however, that even if a channel is available in HD, not all cable systems carry the HD feeds.

THE FOLKS AT KSTU owe sportscaster Mike Runge a little more help than he's apparently getting.

Now, we all make mistakes. And get confused about our facts.

But on Monday, Runge told Ch. 13 viewers that Home Run Derby runner-up Nelson Cruz plays for Tampa Bay, which would come as a bit of a shock to both Cruz and the team he actually plays for, Texas.

And, apparently thrown by the fact that Tim Lincecum was scheduled to start for the National League in Tuesday's All-Star Game, Runge told viewers he was a pitcher for "the Nationals."

You see, Mike, there's this baseball team in Washington, D.C., called the Nationals ...

And poor Mike was having more than his share of trouble pronouncing various names of various players.

C'mon, KSTU, give the guy some help!

e-mail: pierce@desnews.com