Tuesday morning all three of the general cable news channels carried live and uninterrupted testimony of the Parliamentary hearings involving News Corp. and its CEO, Rupert Murdoch. From a little after 9:30 AM ET til just after 12:30 PM ET, all three channels were essentially commercial and anchor-free, as they carried the testimony. All three also carried live testimony from former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks in the early afternoon.

Murdoch can take solace in knowing that the cable news channel News Corp. owns, Fox News, was the highest-rated during the hearing in both total and demo viewers. CNN placed second every hour except for 9-10 AM AM, and in the demo at 12-1 PM.

How are the ratings in perspective?

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The debt ceiling debate here in the U.S. interrupted cable news coverage of the Parliamentary hearings into News Corporation. Pres. Obama appeared in the press briefing room around 1:31pmET to update negotiations. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC carried the president’s statement which went about 8 minutes, including one question from a member of the news media.

Fox News, a News Corp. company, was the first of the networks to return to the hearings in London as former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks continued testimony, without going to a commercial break. CNN wrapped the president’s statement, took a commercial break and returned to testimony around 1:45. MSNBC returned from a break, and moved on to 2012 politics, instead of returning to the hearing.

On Sunday, two of the network public affairs shows reported on the News Corp. hacking scandal and two didn’t. “Meet the Press” had Ohio Gov. John Kasich on as a guest. Kasich once hosted a show on FNC before he reentered politics. David Gregory asked Kasich about whether the scandal overseas, could affect News Corp.’s cable news channel here.

They have not been touched by this, they have told me, and I believe them. And we’ll just have to see how this all unfolds. Murdoch’s fired people, you know, he’s quoted as being told his head’s in his hands crying with the family that was impacted. I mean, it’s a terrible thing, and hopefully, we’ll get to the bottom of it and it will change journalism.

ABC’s “This Week” led with the news, as Christiane Amanpour reported the arrest of Rebekah Brooks, then discussed it later with Ken Auletta.

“FOX News Sunday” and CBS’s “Face the Nation” did not report on the story.

Syndicated show “The McLaughlin Group” also covered the scandal, while two other syndicated shows: “The Chris Matthews Show” and “The Wall Street Journal Report” — which gets its name from a News Corp. property, but is produced by NBC Universal — did not cover it.

Here’s how the media criticism shows: Fox News Watch and CNN’s Reliable Sources covered the story.

Tomorrow morning Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks will appear before Parliament in London and testify on the hacking scandal there. Nearly all of the cable news channels will be carrying at least parts of the testimony, which start after 9 AM ET.

Fox News Channel will be carrying the hearings live, while CNN will be simulcasting CNN International’s coverage. MSNBC will be carrying portions of the testimony, while C-SPAN will be televising it live on C-SPAN3. As we reported over the weekend, even Current TV is getting into the game, with Keith Olbermann anchoring special coverage.

Among the business channels, Fox Business Network  and CNBC will be carrying it live, as will Bloomberg TV

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The News of the World hacking scandal continued to evolve over the weekend, with the big news this morning being the arrest of Rebekah Brooks, the former editor of the paper and CEO of News International., News Corp.’s English subsidiary. The arrest followed the shocking resignation late Friday of Les Hinton, the CEO of Dow Jones, who had worked with News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch for 52 years.

Elsewhere, the AP looks at how the U.S. media has covered the scandal, and notes that CNN’s Piers Morgan has been in the spotlight as well. Morgan was the editor of News in the early 90′s, before eventually competing with it as editor of the Mirror in the late 90′s and early 2000′s.

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Another day, another batch of news on the News Corp. hacking scandal. This weekend, News Corp. will be taking out ads in the major U.K. papers apologizing for the scandal, with the apology signed by CEO Rupert Murdoch himself (pictured right via).

Elsewhere, the BBC reports that Murdoch is meeting today with the family of Milly Dowler, the murdered London girl whose phone News of the World hacked into.

Finally, News International chief Rebekah Brooks, who served as editor of NOTW, has resigned.

News Corp. says that CEO Rupert Murdoch and his son, News International chief James Murdoch will appear before a Parliamentary committee investigating the hacking scandal, according to Sky News. Previously, only former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks was confirmed to appear.

CNN host and former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan may be asked to appear before the inquiry investigating the hacking scandal currently engulfing U.K. media. The Guy Fawkes blog, which wrote about Morgan’s possible involvement yesterday, today posted statements from MPs suggesting that Morgan should appear to explain what he knew about hacking, either at the Mirror or elsewhere. The blog also excerpts from Morgan’s 2005 autobiography, which seems to indicate that he was at least aware of the technique used to hack into voicemails as far back as 2001.

The BBC is also investigating hacking at the Mirror, the blog writes. TVNewser has confirmed with a source at the BBC that the organization is “aggressively pursuing” the story.

Sky News reports that former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks will appear before the inquiry, James Murdoch “may appear” and Rupert Murdoch will not appear.

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