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

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of the

Network Nine The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, 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 five main free-to-air television netw ...

between 1990 and 2001 and

Seven West Media Seven West Media Limited is an Australian Securities Exchange, ASX-listed media company and is Australia's largest diversified media business, with an extensive presence in broadcast television, print and online publishing. Seven Group Holdi ...

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 WesTrac is a Caterpillar dealer. It was owned by Australian Capital Equity, which in turn was owned by Kerry Stokes. In 2010 it and Seven Network Limited merged to form Seven Group Holdings. Headquarters WesTrac is based in South Guildford, Wes ...

and the

Agricultural Bank of China Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), also known as AgBank, is one of the " Big Four" banks in China. It was founded on 10 July 1951, and has its headquarters in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It has branches throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, ...

Early life and education

Leckie was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

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

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

; his mother was Joyce. He was their first child, and he had two brothers, Stuart and Ian. Leckie was raised on the North Shore, and attended

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

from 1962 to 1968. He then studied at

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

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

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

Saatchi & Saatchi Saatchi & 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 gr ...

in London.

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 TCN is the flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia. The station is currently located at 1 Denison Street, North Sydney. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Sir Frank Packer, was one o ...

in Sydney, chief executive on TCN9 and thereafter GTV9 in Melbourne. In August 1990 he became successor of Sam Chisholm as managing director of the Nine Network, which was then owned by

Alan Bond Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s, and what was at the time ...

. 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 OzTAM is an Australian audience measurement research firm that collects and markets television ratings data. It is jointly owned by the Seven Network, the Nine Network and Network Ten, and is the official source of television ratings data for al ...

, the implementation of which he was instrumental, was established. Early 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, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

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

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

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 a diverse range of industries including electronic and print media, property, mining, and construction equipment. ...

. 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 known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

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

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera 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 t ...

'' and ''

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''. 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 marriage was to Barbara Spence. Together, they had one child named Tim. Leckie married his second wife, Skye, in 1995. They met while she was public relations chief at

David Jones Limited David Jones Pty Limited, trading as David Jones (colloquially DJs), is an Australian High-End department store, owned since 2014 by South African retail group Woolworths Holdings Limited. David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh ...

, 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, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

, 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 on the morning of 20 July 2021 in

Robertson, New South Wales Robertson is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town is located on the edge of an elevated plateau (the Illawarra escarpment) about from the coast. Robertson is known for its high ann ...

. 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 honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

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 People from Sydney Australian television executives