David John Leckie (4 May 195120 July 2021) was an Australian media manager, best known as a network television executive. Leckie was the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

Network Nine Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air televisio ...

between 1990 and 2001 and

Seven West Media Seven West Media Limited is an Australian ASX-listed media company. It is Australia's largest diversified media business, with an extensive presence in broadcast television, radio, print and online publishing. Seven West Media owns the Seve ...

from 2003 to 2012. Afterwards he was for four years an executive director at Seven Group Holdings, which holds investments in Seven West, earthmoving company WesTrac and the

Agricultural Bank of China The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), also known as AgBank, is a Chinese partially state-owned multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, China. It is one of the " big four" banks in China, and the second ...

Early life and education

Leckie was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 4 May 1951. His father, Ron, was head of the transport division at

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

having served in the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

's 31st Squadron from 1942-1946 where he met his mother Joyce, who served in the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force. He was their first child, and he had two brothers, Stuart and Ian. Leckie was raised in the Upper North Shore in the suburb of Pymble. In 1962 he commenced as a student at the Killara Preparatory School of his father’s

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

and graduated from the senior school in 1968. He then studied at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in economic and financial studies. Afterwards he travelled around Europe, where he also worked for

Saatchi & Saatchi Saatchi and Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Career

Leckie joined in 1977 the Melbourne branch of Nine, GTV9, where he was network sales manager. From there he rose to network sales director of TCN9 in Sydney, chief executive on TCN9 and thereafter GTV9 in Melbourne. In August 1990 he became successor of

Sam Chisholm Samuel Hewlings Chisholm AO (8 October 1939 – 9 July 2018) was a New Zealand-born Australian media executive who was a significant figure in the Australian media. Career Chisholm attended King's College, Auckland. Chisholm had been ...

as managing director of the Nine Network, which was then owned by Alan Bond. After Bond's bankruptcy in 1992 the network returned under the ownership of

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

. The network then attracted about one-third of Australia's TV audience and roughly 40% of network advertising revenue, which was 400 million dollars in 1988-89. Leckie focused on news and sports and under his leadership the network spent all but six weeks atop the television ratings for the next decade. Nine's dominance over its rivals began to diminish in 2001, when the new ratings system OzTAM, the implementation of which he was instrumental, was established. In January 2002 he was dismissed. He was succeeded by John Alexander and Ian Johnson, who took Nine back to the lead inside six months. In January 2001 he was appointed for a four-year period as a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

of the Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust. Leckie joined the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

in April 2003 at the invitation of

Kerry Stokes Kerry Matthew Stokes (born John Patrick Alford on 13 September 1940) is an Australian businessman. He holds business interests in industries including electronic and print media, property, mining and construction equipment. He is most widely k ...

. He was joined by former Nine program director John Stephens and former Nine head-of-news

Peter Meakin Peter Jeremy Meakin (born 12 October 1942) is an English Australian journalist who has worked as news/current affairs director for all three of Australia's commercial television networks (Nine Network, Seven Network and Network Ten). Early lif ...

. Although it struggled during his first several months at the helm – culminating with a 13-year low in audience share in 2004 – the network's fortunes rebounded after it agreed an output deal with

the Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

. This enabled Seven to broadcast popular American shows in 2005, such as ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

'' and '' Lost''. A key part of Leckie's success was differentiating the network from Nine, appealing instead to a more casual, suburban audience. He resigned as CEO of

in 2012, but continued advising the company for four years. He was brought out of retirement in March 2020 to serve as an executive mentor, including to his protege James Warburton.

Personal life

Leckie's first wife was Barbara Spence (1978-1995). They had a son named Tim. Leckie married his second wife, Skye, in 1995. They met while she was public relations chief at David Jones, and they remained married until his death. Together, they had two children, Harry and Ben. Leckie cut his finger in a garage door in 2008. This injury led to

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

, resulting in his being placed in an

induced coma An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pe ...

at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney. His health did not completely recover from that infection, and he later scaled back on his engagements in order to recuperate. Leckie died surrounded by family on the morning of 20 July 2021 in Robertson, New South Wales. He was 70 and had suffered from a lengthy illness prior to his death. After his death, Leckie was posthumously appointed

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for "significant service to the broadcast media through executive roles".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leckie, David John 1951 births 2021 deaths Australian chief executives Macquarie University alumni Members of the Order of Australia People educated at Newington College Australian television executives