After occasional print journalism pieces MacLeod joined Grampian Television in Aberdeen as a reporter, before moving to the BBC and in 1970 joining the presenting team of its early evening magazine programme "Nationwide", where features he fronted included a dieting item, Slim '72. As a result of their success on the programme, he and another "Nationwide" reporter Bob Langley transferred to Birmingham in 1972 to launch a new lunchtime features programme "Pebble Mill at One", which became an immediate success. MacLeod remained a key presenter on the show (as well as a weekend evening show called "Saturday Night at the Mill") from its beginning in 1972 until his death.