Francis Leach (born 1968) is an Australian radio announcer, sports editor and journalist.
Career
Leach began his career at
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...
in the early 1990s hosting the ''Three Hours of Power'' show, the weekly late night
heavy metal show. Later on he transferred to ''Creatures of the Spotlight'', the Sunday night arts show. In 2000 he made the switch to ''The Morning Show'', Triple J's daily three-hour talkback and current affairs show. He remained in the role until 2002. During the later part of his Triple J career, he also hosted a Saturday morning sports show at fellow ABC
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
station
774 ABC
ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR.
Most Local Radio stations in Victoria s ...
. In 2003 he hosted an arts and music program on
Radio National
Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2.
History
1937: Predecessors a ...
.
[Nguyen, Kenneth]
The loves of Leach
''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...
'', 29 January 2004.
In 2004 he joined the commercial station
SEN 1116
1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria. Owned and operated by Pacific Star Network, it broadcasts a sports radio format from Lower Plenty to Greater Melbourne. First broadcast on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the st ...
in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
to host afternoons however he left the station in June 2005 to join
DMG Radio Australia
NOVA Entertainment is an Australian entertainment company that operates commercial radio networks (and associated digital brands) in metropolitan and regional areas of Australia.
NOVA Entertainment is owned by Lachlan Murdoch's Illyria Pty Lt ...
's new station
Vega FM in both Sydney and Melbourne. At one stage Leach and his wife
Lynne Haultain, a radio announcer at
774 ABC
ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR.
Most Local Radio stations in Victoria s ...
, hosted shows that were broadcast during the same time slot.
He signed to return to SEN at the end of February 2007 to host the drive program ''The Run Home'' alongside former AFL footballer,
David Schwarz. Leach was also host of
SEN 1116
1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria. Owned and operated by Pacific Star Network, it broadcasts a sports radio format from Lower Plenty to Greater Melbourne. First broadcast on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the st ...
's coverage of the
A League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...
.
In 2012, Leach returned to
ABC Radio and joined the
ABC Grandstand
ABC Sport, formerly ABC Radio Grandstand, is a live radio sports focused commentary and talk-back program which runs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) local radio network across Australia and on one digital-only station.
History
Fr ...
team, hosting a breakfast show on digital radio.
He is a regular panellist on ABC-TV's Sunday morning sports talk show, ''
Offsiders
''Offsiders'' is an Australian television sport program hosted by AFL commentator Kelli Underwood. The show airs live on Sunday mornings at 10:00 am on ABC TV and ABC News.
History
The show began airing in 2005 (alongside '' Insiders'', its ...
''.
In 2016, Leach joined
David Schwarz as co-host of the SEN "Breakfast" show.
In 2018, he was appointed as sports editor at ''
The New Daily
''The New Daily'' is an online, non-paywalled, Australian newspaper founded in 2013 The founding editor is Bruce Guthrie, currently the editorial director (as at the beginning of June 2019), who was formerly the Editor-in-Chief of the ''Herald ...
''.
See also
*
Radio in Australia
This is a list of radio stations that broadcast in Australia.
The first digit of the callsign represents the state or territory: 1 – ACT, 2 – NSW and ACT, 3 – VIC, 4 – QLD, 5 – SA, 6 – WA, 7 – TAS, 8 – NT.
Australian Capit ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Francis
1968 births
Living people
Triple J announcers
People educated at St. Bernard's College, Melbourne