The hazards of live television. During a live report on the Alpha Warrior Challenge, KNSD reporter Megan Tevrizian got herself stuck on the 30-foot high obstacle course (video above).

Tevrizian was quickly helped to safety by one of the course’s employees. “See you later. Happy Friday,” Tevrizian joked at the end of her report. “That’s it. Reporter participation is enough.”

Gannett’s acquisition of Belo is the latest example of consolidation by local station groups. Sinclair Broadcast Group is in the process of acquiring 38 new stations, and Media General and Young Broadcasting recently announced a merger. The New York Times‘ Brian Stelter takes a look at the motivation behind the consolidation trend:

Station owners like Gannett have several strategic reasons for wanting to grow. Along with obvious efficiencies, bigger companies tend to have more leverage when they negotiate with cable and satellite distributors over retransmission fees — the broadcast equivalent of the per-subscriber fees that cable channels receive. These fees, although a relatively new revenue source, have become vitally important to stations as they try to offset audience and advertising declines.

In many cases, Gannett’s stations earn higher fees than Belo’s, and because of contractual clauses “we will be able to move them to our rates shortly after we close the transaction,” Gracia C. Martore, Gannett’s chief executive, said in an interview.

Being bigger is also better when stations negotiate with the networks that provide them with programming. Networks like CBS have been aggressive about receiving a slice of retransmission fees, something known in the industry as reverse compensation. “Scale has become much more important” in those discussions, [SNL Kagan senior analyst Robin] Flynn said.

Mark Allen is retiring from WTHI, the Fox and CBS affiliate in Terre Haute, Ind. He has worked at the station since 1990, anchoring the 6, 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts.

“They (WTHI-TV) take the business so seriously and I have really enjoyed the fact that they are involved in the community,” Allen told The Terre Haute Tribune-Star. “That is not always the case, especially for TV stations.”

Also retiring from WTHI is local sales manager Jim Swander. WTHI honored the pair with a party Thursday night.

The Tribune-Star reports Mike Cleff, an anchor at WLFI in West Layfayette, Ind., will take Allen’s place at the anchor desk.

Jay Plyburn has joined KFSM, the CBS affiliate in Fort Smith, Ark.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity and very excited to be part of this team,” Plyburn told TVSpy in an email.

Plyburn most recently worked at rival KHBS-KHOG, where he was a reporter. FTVLive reports he left the station in March after an incident covering a lightning storm, which he called “the single most frightening experience of my life.”

At KFSM, Plyburn will co-anchor the morning newscast alongside Heather Lewis and meteorologist Joe Pennington.

Justin Walters is joining WBBJ, the ABC affiliate in Jackson, Tenn., as a sports and news multimedia journalist.

Walters told TVSpy he will begin at WBBJ in early June. He moves to Jackson from Philadelphia, where he was a production assistant and associate producer at Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia. He has interned at CBS Sports and at WABC, the ABC O&O in New York City. During the 2012 London Olympics, he worked as an affiliate producer for NBC.

Bob Tur, a Los Angeles helicopter reporter who covered the LA race riots and the O.J. Simpson chase, has come out as transgender.

Tur is the creator of Los Angeles News Service, which was the first news service to use a helicopter in a major city for coverage of live breaking news. She was the only reporter to capture footage of the attack on Reginald Denny during the L.A. race riots in 1992 and the first to locate and televise the O.J. Simpson freeway chase in 1994.

In an interview with KCBS, one of her former stations, Tur said she is undergoing hormone replacement therapy to fully transform from male to female. She will change her name from Robert to Zoey.

“People thought I was brave doing rescues, they thought I was brave doing news, flying helicopters,” Tur said. “Brave is being yourself. That’s brave. And for the first time in my life, I’m being brave.”

Tur’s daughter, Katy Tur, is a correspondent for NBC News in New York. Tur told KNX radio that his kids “were in a state of shock.”

“They have been going through this mourning process. Bob Tur has got to die,” she said. “And that’s going to happen within the next three or four months. There’s a mourning process, but they’ve been very, very supportive.”

Watch Tur’s interview with KCBS after the jump. Read more

KyAnn Lewis has been named senior executive producer at KNTV, the NBC owned station in San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland.

Lewis is a former news director at KIAH in Houston and WHNS in Greenville, S.C. She has also held management and producer positions at KPTV and KGW in Portland, Ore. Most recently, she was the executive producer of “The Daily Buzz,” a syndicated morning newscast in Orlando.

“We are thrilled to have someone with KyAnn’s experience join the NBC Bay Area news team,” KNTV vice president of news Jonathan Mitchell said in a statement. “Her talent and passion for local journalism make her a perfect fit with our news management team.”

Lewis will oversee the editorial, production and promotion components of the station’s evening newscasts. She will begin at KNTV on July 22.

Joany D’Agostino joins KXRM, SOCO CW and Mundo Fox Sur-Co in Colorado Springs as vice president and director of media operations. She comes from rival KOAA, where she was marketing director.

John Gerard, the “Commuter Dude” traffic reporter at WXIA in Atlanta, is moving to sister station WATL as promotion manager.

To report a move, send an email to tvspy@mediabistro.com with the subject line “On the Move.”

Cheryl Chodun has announced her retirement from WXYZ, the ABC affiliate in Detroit.

Chodun started at WXYZ in 1978 as a news writer. She went on to be a radio reporter before re-joining WXYZ as an on-air reporter in 1988.

“This has been an amazing career,” Chodun said in a statement. “I have met so many fascinating people, I have told so many interesting and unbelievable stories.  I feel as passionate now about what we do as I did the day I started.  There is no question I am going to miss this, but I look forward to what I hope will be an exciting and fulfilling next chapter.”

Chodun said she plans to spend time with her family and volunteer. She also hopes to teach journalism. She will sign off from WXYZ on July 26.

WSMV weekend anchor and reporter Jonathan Martin is leaving the Nashville NBC affiliate. A formal announcement is expected on Martin’s plans in the coming weeks, TVSpy has learned. He will work at WSMV through the end of the July.

“His hard work, tenacity, team spirit and his thorough, responsible, and creative approach to news have made him a great fit for WSMV, and he’ll be missed,” WSMV news director Matthew Hilk wrote in a memo to staffers.

Martin joined WSMV in 2007. Before that, he spent two years as a reporter and anchor at WRDW, the CBS affiliate in Augusta, Ga.