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 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. 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 of the
Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust. Leckie joined the
Seven Network in April 2003 at the invitation of
Kerry Stokes. He was joined by former Nine program director John Stephens and former Nine head-of-news
Peter Meakin. 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. This enabled Seven to broadcast popular American shows in 2005, such as
Desperate Housewives and
Lost. A key part of Leckie's success was differentiating the network from Nine, appealing instead to a more casual, suburban audience. He was brought out of retirement in March 2020 to serve as an executive mentor, including to his protege
James Warburton. ==Personal life==