From Luxembourg to Moscow to Papua New Guinea to Singapore and beyond, Ralph Siebenaler has bridged the gap between corporate strategy and on-the-ground entrepreneurial work, successfully growing TV businesses across the globe.
“Let me do things!” That’s how Ralph Siebenaler sums up his professional vision and motivation. As a pragmatic “do-er” with an eye for numbers, Siebenaler has skillfully used a realistic, research-driven approach and keen cultural observations to launch and expand TV businesses around the world.
Born in Wellenstein, a small wine-growing village in Luxembourg, Siebenaler notes that he was “quite good with numbers” and attended the École de Commerce Solvay in Brussels, where he majored in finance and tax and obtained a Master’s degree in management.
“It was a very interesting experience to see other approaches, to asking questions and solving problems.”
During his university years, he participated in an exchange programme with the National University of Singapore and had the chance to discover Asia. “It was a very interesting experience to taste overseas life on another continent, to see how people do things ‘differently’, to see other approaches to asking questions and solving problems,” Siebenaler explains. Curiosity, openness and the capacity to carefully observe – qualities that he has honed since his first experience abroad – have all helped his career to flourish.
Driving the decisions
Although Siebenaler carried out internships in diverse domains, he had always been fascinated by television. “When you asked me, at the age of 14, what I wanted to do when I was grown up, I replied: I want to be a programming director at RTL.”
Siebenaler was intrigued by statistics and the evolution of audience numbers that he was able to track on teletext, and from an early age, was eager to learn about the factors driving the decisions behind what’s on screens. That brought him to a job in the strategy team at RTL Group in Luxembourg in 2001, where he had the opportunity to live his dream.
Expanding eastwards
After being part of RTL Group’s expansion team into Croatia and Russia, Siebenaler moved to Moscow in 2005, where he served as REN TV’s chief operating officer, in charge of programming, production, advertising sales and marketing.
One of his major accomplishments there was launching a docu-soap about home cooking – the second most successful show in the channel’s history, with more than 1,700 episodes produced. Another key achievement was acquiring broadcast rights for major sports events including Formula 1 and bouts featuring the Russian heavyweight world boxing champion, presenting them in a more entertaining format than had previously been seen on Russian TV.
But that’s not all. In 2007, he negotiated the set-up of Klub 100, a pay-TV channel joint venture between RTL Group and local co-shareholders. “This was a much more entrepreneur-driven business,” says Siebenaler. “We had our offices in a small suburb in Moscow and we had to excel through creativity because we had much smaller budgets. We were a real startup, doing what they called ‘garage television!’”
This ability to listen to the local market, adapt and be flexible served Siebenaler and his team well: their subscriber base grew from 1 million to 8 million over just three years. “For our kids channel, we managed, in terms of viewing time, to beat Disney, which gave us the confirmation that our channel had soul,” he adds.
From rugby to telenovelas in Papua New Guinea
RTL took the decision to leave Russia a few years later, and Siebenaler headed further east, setting up in Singapore. In 2011, he launched his own company, Magistan Media, where he produces and develops content for companies like Bigfoot Ventures (FashionOne), Red Bull Mediahouse and SkyVision UK.
Siebenaler also serves as an advisor, but one who goes beyond words – he actually executes. “I’m a bit allergic to the word consultant,” he says, emphasising the fact that he enjoys the operational aspect of the job and having his feet on the ground.
A desire for adventure and a new opportunity brought him to Papua New Guinea in 2015, where he joined Digicel to launch their TV business. This has now become the largest television operator in the South Pacific Islands. A key step, says Siebenaler, was to find the “right type of content.”
In this case, one obvious answer was rugby. But they needed compelling, non-sports-related content as well, and it turns out that telenovelas from the Philippines worked “outstandingly.”
“We needed something that really speaks to the local audiences. It’s all about observing people, learning what drives their interest and excitement, but also understanding their worries, what brings them happiness or what makes them upset,” says Siebenaler. “Often in the television world, people say: ‘Oh, but you’re a foreigner. You don’t know enough about local behaviour to make programming decisions.’ I think I have demonstrated the opposite.”
The telenovelas took off, with the first show gaining traction even in the smallest villages of Papua New Guinea. “In the local grocery store, they had cut out the newspaper advertising of the show and fixed it on the wall to serve as a public announcement, saying: ‘Hey! This is on TV. Watch it!’ It really hit a nerve with the population,” he says proudly. “This series and the rugby made us the number 1 channel in the country.”
Building bridges
Though he’s now based in Singapore and Bangkok, through Magistan Media, Siebenaler also works on behalf of European partners handling digital marketing, streaming, generative AI and social media management. “This is all about creating content and reaching target groups,” he explains, emphasising the importance of the human element in an increasingly digital world.
Emphasising the importance of the human element in an increasingly digital world.
After 20-some years spent abroad, does he ever think about moving back to Luxembourg?
Siebenaler does return regularly. “I didn’t leave Luxembourg because I don’t like it,” he concludes. “I’m just too attracted to adventure… and that is more readily available when you live in other cultures. But it hasn’t decreased my love for Luxembourg – quite the opposite! I want to keep that alive and find more ways – in business and otherwise – to build bridges with Luxembourg and other countries.”
This article was published in the 11th edition of Forbes Luxembourg.
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