When Gary Levin left variety show in early 1998 to serve as USA Today’s top television reporter, “Touched by Angel” was still airing on CBS.
“X-Files” was a hot property of Fox. “Suddenly Susan” was pinned to NBC on Monday. “Boy Meets World” was in the middle of a run at ABC. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” rose to WB, and “Mosha” was the anchor of UPN.
28 years after USA Today, Levin has painted curtains on his full-time journalism career and resigned as a television editor.
When Levin arrived at USA Today’s New York office, the television industry was removed from today’s vast global pay television market. This means he was perfectly positioned as one of the most read-forward newspapers in the country at the time to document the wild rides of business, content and innovation that have grown television significantly.
In the unusually long-awaited view of Levin in the newspaper owned by Gannett, his USA Today colleagues paid tribute to his skills as a journalist and his character as a colleague. Levin was recently presented with the ultimate fourth property tribute. This is a mock front page for USA Today, which tells him his longevity and accomplishments.
USA Today longtime television critic Robert Bianco emphasized that even when Bianco’s reviews angered Levin’s sources, he strongly supported him.
“My God, he enjoyed working with me. An unconventional love for evil – sometimes just evil – slapstick brightened my bright sense of humor,” writes Bianco.
Another former USA Today colleague, reporter Bill Queveny, quoted Levin’s drive, breaking the news and providing a powerful story with his beat. Levin created USA Today’s “Save Our Shows” feature as a way to draw attention to valuable programs that require a boost to their audience.
“I always praise Gary’s shoe leather report, from daily calls with his list of vieed contacts to painstaking work to save our shows,” Quebeny writes. “And while I was grateful for his dull integrity that can break down a sensitive ego, he has earned the respect of television executives.”
Before USA Today, Levin spent two and a half years in Variety in New York covering television, marketing, advertising, sports media, broadcast news and business. Early in his career, he was a reporter in the advertising era.
Below are two examples of works for Levin varieties.
Gary Levin’s first story of variety came on page 1 on June 28, 1995, edition
Gary Levin was one of the first to cover television marketing as discipline. From the variety edition, June 23, 1997.
