The Ticker: We Would Care More, But Couric Watch Isn’t Quite Over Yet

(It’s sad, but it’s true.)

> “Someone” sent Huffington Post columnist Harry Shearer a recording of MSNBC’s Chris Matthews talking to Tom DeLay in between segments on Hardball. In the clip, Matthews thanks DeLay for letting him break the Congressman’s not-running-for-reelection news, and says “I owe you one. I owe you too — today and last night.”

> Reliable Source: American Dreamz writer-director Paul Weitz was expecting to do an interview on “Fox News Live” on Monda, but FNC “canceled at the nudging of its corporate parents because the movie pokes fun at the Fox Broadcasting juggernaut ‘American Idol,'” sources allege (but FNC denies)…

> NASCAR’s governing body called Dateline NBC “outrageous” on Wednesday, “saying it tried to provoke anti-Muslim reactions from spectators at last week’s race for a story about growing U.S. sentiment against Islam.” NASCAR.com has the story. NBC says “it’s very early on in our newsgathering process, but be assured we will be visiting a number of locations across the country and are confident that our reporting team is pursuing this story in a fair manner…”