Seven boss Kerry Stokes pays tribute to David Leckie
The passing of a true legend of Australian television, David Leckie, has shocked and saddened the Seven West Media board and staff, friends and associates, writes Kerry Stokes in News Corp newspapers.
David held several senior roles with the Seven group, including Chief Executive Officer of Seven Network, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Seven Media Group and Seven West Media, and a Director of Seven Network Limited, Seven West Media and Seven Group Holdings.
David was a friend and workmate of mine for more than 20 years, bringing his magic to Seven in re-building the network through his famous “brick by brick” approach and leading us to number one after becoming Chief Executive Officer in 2003.
Richo: David Leckie was the best communicator I have ever met
Australian free-to-air television is as good as any in the world and one of the reasons for that was the contribution of David Leckie who led both the Nine and Seven networks to the number one position in the television ratings, writes Graham Richardson in The Australian.
Billionaires like Kerry Packer and Kerry Stokes paid handsomely for his services and he was worth every penny. He could be irascible, cranky, irritating and a royal pain in the bum. He was also fiercely loyal and absolutely brilliant in his chosen field. Humour was never his strong point but he was a master communicator.
Another of his qualities was courage, which he had in spades. Standing up to Kerry Packer was no easy task but Leckie did it regularly.
TV legend David Leckie: The last of the TV lions
They were the lions of Australian television with names as familiar to us today as the stars on their Nine Network: Kerry Packer, Sam Chisholm and David Leckie, report The Australian’s Alan Howe and James Madden.
Packer died in 2005, Chisholm in 2018, and on Tuesday morning, Leckie, aged 70, died peacefully at his farm in the NSW Southern Highlands, surrounded by his wife Skye and their adult sons.
Executives such as Leckie and Chisholm once lorded over media empires in an era before the internet, and before personnel departments were rebranded “human resources” and managed out the tough, aggressive, no-nonsense achievers – if they had made the “mistake” of hiring them in the first place, that is.
Seven’s Bruce McWilliam pays tribute to David Leckie, the man ‘almost born for TV’
David Leckie was a big man with a big personality. Almost born for TV, writes former colleague Bruce McWilliam for The Sydney Morning Herald.
A contradiction in many ways – brash and keenly intelligent, yet shy and insecure. Naturally creative but preferring a more robust persona, he was driven to win and was a relentless competitor.
He went to Newington College where he never said he was dux, and then studied at Macquarie University where he said he relied on his natural blonde good looks and winning ways to get through. His famous saying to Kurt Burnette, Seven’s handsome and charismatic head of sales, was “I used to be good looking too”.
A voracious competitor, David relentlessly sold his network’s product and achieved record returns. He also uniquely grew to understand programming and had a keen sense of what worked. He pushed sport where Nine was the leader and also loved the news franchises of Nine and the US studio shows that dominated in the 80s and 90s.
David Leckie: “Defeat is just not a word in his vocabulary”
As David Leckie’s close friend and long-time associate, Peter Meakin, once said: “Defeat is just not a word in his vocabulary”, report Zoe Samios and Miriam Steffens in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Leckie, chief executive of both the Seven and Nine Networks, fought hard until his final day, July 20, when a long battle with illness overcame him at his Southern Highlands cattle farm. He was 70.
The larger-than-life executive was an icon of Australian television. Hired by Kerry Stokes to lift Seven out of its ratings woes 18 years ago, the brash and boisterous executive led the broadcaster to its first annual win in television ratings in a non-Olympic year since 1978, dethroning the once mighty Nine Network. Asked what he wanted to do next, he told journalists he had a simple plan: “Make more money.”
‘Last of the rock star CEOs’: Television boss David Leckie dead at 70
David Leckie’s health never fully recovered from a life-threatening infection he suffered when he cut his finger in 2008, only to end up in an induced coma at St Vincent’s Hospital fighting for life, reports The Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Hornery.
In 2012, he left his role as CEO at Seven West Media. However, he was brought out of retirement in March 2020 by Seven proprietor, the billionaire Kerry Stokes, to act as a “mentor” as the network faced increased challenges to its profitability.
Harto and Craig McPherson remember Channel 7 boss David Leckie
Reporting for The Daily Telegraph – Jonathon Moran, Annette Sharp and Matthew Benns.
Former News Corp chief executive John Hartigan said: “David Leckie will be remembered as a legend, because he truly was a legend.
“It takes exceptional talent to be a top executive and work with both the Packer and Stokes families and withstand the blowtorch that brings with it.
“What stood out about David was his understanding of the Australian people and audience. He didn‘t use focus groups to make decisions, he followed his instincts,” Hartigan said.
Craig McPherson, head of Seven News, said; “He was the Muhamed Ali of TV, untouchable for so long and his legacy will live on for decades.”
And former Nine political journalist Laurie Oakes said on Twitter: “He was a terrific CEO at Nine. Backed me when there was pressure, even from Kerry Packer.”
Legendary Australian TV executive , who ran both Seven and Nine networks, has died.
TV Tonight has compiled a comprehensive guide to social media posts from former David Leckie colleagues.
Seven and Nine News report on the death of David Leckie
TV tributes for David Leckie included Michael Usher reporting on 7News.
Lizzie Pearl put together the report on 9News.
David Leckie and Bruce McWilliam on 9 News
See also: Mediaweek tribute – David Leckie: A compulsive TV watcher and a fearless leader who hated boring