(Corrected Oct. 9, 2009)

If you’re a TiVo subscriber, they’re watching what you’re watching. Not you specifically, but you collectively in Tucson — and anonymously — along with TiVo subscribers in San Francisco and Orlando, Fla., who are part of a three-market test of a  ratings service called Stop||Watch. (The vertical lines in the name are supposed to be like the lines on the pause button on your remote.)

“For over 75 percent of television markets there is a total lack of available electronic data on local viewing, and now TiVo has the ability to provide critical information, not to mention substantially improve measurement accuracy,” said Tom Rogers, president and CEO of TiVo as part of the company’s quarterly report.

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The sample of Tucson viewers being tested is 5,000. In San Francisco it's 75,000 and in Orlando it's 10,000. TiVo says these numbers make its sample size 75 times greater than the most widely used audience sample to make for more accurate ratings data. Recent ratings done in Tucsn by Nielsen Media Research have been based on a sample of about 700 diaries. 

The Stop||Watch data tracks TiVo subscribers second-by-second “clickstream” of viewing behavior giving advertisers and programers data on whether viewers watched commercials, full TV programs and when they watched them — live or within days.

Hall of Famer Foster

Bud Foster, who over the past nearly 30 years has reported and anchored newscasts on three Tucson television stations, has earned himself a trip to the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He’ll be inducted along with three Phoenix broadcasters; TV news anchor Kent Dana and radio personalities W. Steven Martin and Dave Pratt.

For the first time since the Hall of Fame was started in 1990, the public is invited to attend this year’s induction, which will be a luncheon Oct. 29 at the Intercontinental Montelucia Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley. The cost is $75 per person or $750 for a table of 10, with the proceeds going to the Arizona Broadcasters Association Foundation community service projects, including Arizona Amber Alert and scholarships. Reservations can be made online through www.

azbroadcasters.org/.

Foster has been in Tucson TV since the late 1970s when he worked at NBC affiliate KVOA 4 and became the station’s main anchorman. He then went to ABC-affiliate KGUN 9 where he launched the market’s first local early-morning newscast. And then in 1994, Foster moved over to CBS-affiliate KOLD 13 where he continues as a senior reporter.

Emmy nominations

Tucson media outlets have received 43 nominations for this year’s Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards

KOLD 13 leads the way with 17 nominations, including Aaron Pickering for on-camera weather talent, Damien Alameda for sports and both both Teresa Jun and Mike Stine for news reporting.

KUAT-TV 6 has 11 nominations, the City of Tucson’s Tucson 12 has nine nominations and with categories for new media, the Arizona Daily Star and the University of Arizona’s Office of University Communications each have two nominations.

The awards are to be handed out in ceremonies Oct. 24 at the Sheraton Downtown Phoenix. The regional Rocky Mountain regional Emmys cover Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. 

Wildcats TV 

The decision has been made: kickoff time for next weekend’s Arizona-Stanford game at Arizona Stadium will be at 4:30 p.m., as a result the game is being televised on the Versus channel.

Authors on the airLocal authors now have a new venue to talk about their works. “On the Book Shelf” is an hour-long live call-in show that airs at 11 a.m. Saturdays on the Jolt, KJLL 1330-AM. The program is produced by Literacy Partners Group and hosted by Tucsonan Andrew T. Greeley.

Contact David Hatfield at dhatfield@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4237. Inside Tucson Media appears weekly.