Veteran The CW scheduling & acquisitions exec Kevin Levy to depart

Kevin Levy

The CW veteran Kevin Levy is stepping down as EVP of program planning, scheduling and acquisitions and will exit the company on 1 August.

Levy has been with The CW since it launched in 2006, starting out as director of program planning and scheduling before being promoted to VP the following year, then SVP in 2014 and into his most recent role in 2018. During his tenure, he acquired shows for The CW including The Outpost and Penn & Teller: Fool Us and oversaw a schedule of shows including The Flash, Supernatural, Jane The Virgin, Riverdale and The Vampire Diaries.

Brad Schwartz, The CW’s president of entertainment, announced Levy’s exit in a memo to staff, where he highlighted the outgoing exec’s work to “re-imagine the network once again under Nexstar” following its acqusition last year, with the pick-up of shows including, The Spencer Sisters, Sullivan’s Crossing, The Librarians: The Next Chapter and Son Of A Critch, as part of the new owners’ pivot towards unscripted and away from scripted originals.

Prior to The CW, Levy was the director of programming at UPN, which was closed in 2006 upon launch of The CW. While there he helped to launch shows including Veronica Mars and America’s Next Top Model.

“Now that the hard transition work is done, he is ready for his next adventure. We want to thank Kevin for his immeasurable contributions to The CW,” wrote Schwartz in the memo.

The CW was acquired by Nexstar Media Group in October 2022 and has a new strategy to populate The CW with “broader and cheaper programming”, with a push towards more unscripted shows that has seen NBCU alums Betsy Slenzak and Heather Olander appointed to spearhead the charge.

Levy is just the latest senior exit at The CW since Nexstar took over, beginning with former CEO and chairman Mark Pedowitz last year, while other departures have included Gaye Hirsch, EVP, development; EVP current programming Michael Roberts; EVP distribution Betty Ellen Berlamino; and EVP of talent & casting Dana Theodoratos.