Syndie Veteran Jackoway Dies

By Michele Greppi

Leland A. Jackoway, a longtime television syndication industry veteran who helped sell such classic shows as “Highway Patrol,” “Sea Hunt” and “The Phil Donahue Show” to local stations, died Tuesday of natural causes in Richmond, Va. He was 78.

Mr. Jackoway was a disc jockey and worked in radio and television ad sales before joining Ziv Television in the late 1950s. Ziv syndicated “Highway Patrol,” “Sea Hunt” and “Home Run Derby.”

He would become regional sales manager of Ziv-United Artists before leaving in 1964 to join David Wolper’s company where he handled the syndication of the original “Biography,” hosted by Mike Wallace, among other series.

In 1966, Mr. Jackoway returned to the local TV and radio business as an executive. But in 1972, he returned to syndication with Crosley-Avco Broadcasts, which would become Multimedia Entertainment. He was instrumental in the national rollout of “The Phil Donahue Show,” which was originating from Dayton, Ohio.

A decade later, as VP and general sales manager, Mr. Jackoway helped launch “The Sally Jessy Raphael Show” for Multimedia.

In 1986, he left Multimedia, working for Coral Pictures and Orion Television before retiring in 1991.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Mary Ellen Reinhard Jackoway; a son, entertainment attorney Jim Jackoway of Los Angeles; two daughters, Paula Young of Boulder, Colo., and Laura Ludvigsen of Richmond; and six grandchildren and step-grandchildren.