LONDON — Embroiled in inquiries into the behavior of journalists and executives working for his newspapers here, the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch faced new questions on Thursday after a television broadcast of what appeared to be a clandestine recording of him criticizing the police investigation of Britain’s phone hacking scandal as “totally incompetent.”

In the recording, apparently made in March during a meeting with journalists at Mr. Murdoch’s tabloid The Sun, Mr. Murdoch is heard saying of the investigation: “It’s a disgrace. Here we are, two years later, and the cops are totally incompetent.”

“The idea that the cops then started coming after you, kick you out of bed, and your families, at 6 in the morning is unbelievable,” he said, dismissing the investigation as “the biggest inquiry ever, over next to nothing.”

Channel 4 News, which broadcast the recording, said it had been obtained by an investigative Web site called Exaro. The channel said the tone of the remarks seemed markedly at odds with Mr. Murdoch’s public insistence that he felt “humbled” by the hacking scandal.