KTXS, the ABC affiliate for Abilene, TX, has announced a few newsroom changes.

Jason Goodwin has been promoted from assistant news director to news director, replacing George Levesque who has led the news department since 2007. Levesque who is also an anchor, moves to managing editor and anchoring the station’s 10:00 p.m. news alongside Wayne McCormick.

“George has been an outstanding leader for KTXS News and now he will be able to use that same leadership to KTXS News at 10,” said KTXS vice president and general manager Albert Brown. Read more

WIS, the NBC affiliate in Columbia, S.C., is launching a Sunday morning newscast this weekend.

“It’s a great opportunity to provide critical weather and news information to our audience on television, as well as expand our footprint in the mornings on digital,” news content director Rashida Jones told TVSpy.

The hourlong 10 a.m. newscast will be anchored by Chelsea Washington (pictured) and weather anchor Tim Miller, who also handle the station’s Saturday morning newscast.

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.”

The Oklahoman has published a story that suggests KFOR meteorologist Mike Morgan was to blame for the deaths of five Oklahoma City family members after they followed his advice about escaping an oncoming tornado.

Virginia Shrum said her brother talked about how he had hidden down in the tunnel from a tornado three years before. The survivors said they were swayed to flee the apartment by warnings from Mike Morgan, KFOR-TV chief meteorologist.

The article said 11 people hid in a long drainage tunnel behind the family’s apartment to escape the oncoming twister. They were swept from the tunnel by a flash flood.

At least 10 of the group ended up in the Oklahoma River. Killed were two of Virginia Shrum’s daughters, Destiny Love Shrum, 4, and Terra Shrum, 3; her brother, Timothy Shrum, 21; and her adopted mother’s two children, Cory Don Johnson Jr., 3, and Alexis Johnson, 5 months.

Nolan Clay, who wrote the article for The Oklahoman told TVSpy the families repeatedly blamed Morgan for what happened during the interview. He said he didn’t think he could ignore it. Clay used parts of a statement issued by KFOR in his article. Read more

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.

WTAE has announced the hiring of Bofta Yimam as an investigative reporter.

“Bofta is dedicated to uncovering the untold stories that can have a deep impact on people’s lives,” said Justin Antoniotti, news director for the Pittsburgh ABC affiliate. “She embodies the high standards of WTAE Channel 4 Action News and our commitment to our viewers.”

Yimam comes to WTAE from Memphis FOX owned station WHBQ where she was a general assignment reporter.

She told viewers on her Memphis facebook page, “I’ve accepted a position as an Investigative Reporter at WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh. I’m excited to join the award-winning Investigative unit! I’ve had an amazing time in Memphis and leaving the bluff city is bittersweet! Thanks to everyone for the wonderful memories! My last day at FOX13 is June 14.”

Cincinnati’s CBS affiliate WKRC is adding two Sunday morning newscasts to its lineup.

“We are very happy to have the opportunity to bring viewers across the Tri-State the kind of quality local news coverage that is their number one choice—every other morning of the week,” said  WKRC news director Kirk Varner. “The opportunity to surround the long running excellence of CBS Sunday Morning and Face The Nation with breaking news and weather alerts from The Local Station, is something that we are very excited about.”

The news premieres July 7 with an hour show at 8:00 a.m. and then again for a half-hour at 11:00 a.m.  Liz Bonis will anchor along with meteorologist Josh Knight.

[Cincinnati Enquirer]

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.