Christian Knaebel: Trusted guide for the global media industry
What defines his work is not just foresight, but orientation: a steady hand in a volatile industry. Christian helps clients see clearly, decide wisely, and act with purpose - not by following the trend, but by understanding the shifts in the underlying ecosystem.
Founder & Managing Partner
Christian Knaebel is an internationally respected advisor and industry guide, known for helping media leaders chart their course through shifting landscapes and uncertain futures. With almost 30 years of experience across the global television, broadcast, and streaming sectors, he brings not just strategic acumen but rare narrative clarity to a field defined by disruption, fragmentation, and accelerating change.
He is the Founder and Managing Partner of Global Media Consult, a boutique consultancy rooted in deep industry expertise and built on long-standing trust. Global Media Consult brings together a senior team of media veterans - specialists in content strategy, distribution, platform development, and innovation - and operates with its own proprietary tools and methodologies, including the GMC Strategy Compass, GMC Trend Radar, and the O.F.G. Methodology. These frameworks help clients cut through noise, prioritize with confidence, and implement strategies aligned with their unique identity and market realities.
Christian and his team work at the edge of the known and the emerging: where traditional TV models converge with new technologies, audience behaviours shift beneath the surface, and new market opportunities challenge legacy logics. Clients seek out Global Media Consult when clarity is scarce, when internal alignment falters, or when strategic paralysis threatens momentum.
Over the course of his career, Christian held leadership and strategic roles at CNBC Europe, NBC Inc., Vodafone, and Liberty Global, before founding Global Media Consult in 2005. His consulting work has since spanned all around the world with clients including Al Jazeera, CNBC, NHK World, Bloomberg Media, Liberty Global, SABC, Orange, Vodafone, and numerous public and private sector media organisations.
Beyond his client work, Christian is regarded as a widely followed and trusted voice in the industry reaching tens of thousands of professionals globally through his writing, keynote appearances, industry panels, and newsletter.
He is known for offering a rare combination of global perspective and local insight helping bridge the divide between emerging markets and established players, and between technology-driven futures and human-centered strategies.
He is also the author of numerous industry reports on emerging trends and most recently the AI Strategy Workbook for the Broadcast Industry, a practical guide to implementing AI in media businesses.
He teaches Media Strategy, Media Politics & Economics at Macromedia University, Berlin, and University of Media, Stuttgart. Christian holds a degree in International Management from Georgetown University (Washington D.C.) and studied Economics at the University of Konstanz.
Established boutique consultancy focused on media industry transformation
Strategic positions at CNBC Europe, NBC Inc., Vodafone, and Liberty Global
Working with clients worldwide including Al Jazeera, Bloomberg Media, NHK World, and many others
Author, speaker, educator at Macromedia University and University of Media Stuttgart
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