You need NFL TV news ... in March?

It's hardly on the radar, but catching up with a few announcements made from the league meetings at the St. Regis Monarch in Dana Point:

== The league kicks off Thursday, Sept. 10 at 5:30 p.m. on NBC -- Pittsburgh hosting Tennessee
== The first Sunday night game, Sept. 13, on NBC (5:30 p.m.) -- Green Bay hosting Chicago.
== The first Monday night games, Sept. 14, on ESPN -- New England hosting Buffalo at 4 p.m.; Oakland hosting San Diego at 7:15 p.m.
== The Thanksgiving Day games on Nov. 26: Detroit hosting Green Bay, 9:30 a.m., Channel 11/Fox; Dallas hosting Oakland, 1:15 p.m., Channel 2/KCBS; Denver hosting the New York Giants, 5:20 p.m., NFL Network

The rest of the 2009 regular-season schedule will be completed and announced in April.

==DirecTV's "Sunday Ticket" package will extend with the league through 2014. That could only enflame cable operators' relationship with the NFL Network carriage. The NFL and DirecTV have a $700-million-a-year deal that was to expire in 2010. The league will, however, create a couple of packages for those who don't have DirecTV, because either of poor satellite dish placement or they live in apartment. That broadband service will start no later than 2012. The DirecTV "Red Zone Channel" that has live cut-ins from all Sunday afternoon games will be available to cable and satellite providers, as well as cellphone and internet users.

And something that happened a couple of weeks ago:

== Westwood One and the NFL announced a two-year extension to continue as the syndicated radio partner for the league.