The Global OTT Awards is an annual ceremony recognizing excellence in Asian streaming content. As of 2025, it serves as the flagship event of the International Streaming Festival (), presented by Ministry of Science and ICT and Busan Metropolitan City. The ceremony is hosted jointly by the Korea International Streaming Festival (KISF) and the Information and Communication Industry Promotion Agency.
History The event, originally known as the Asia Contents Awards, was established in 2019 as part of the Asian Film Market during the 24th Busan International Film Festival held from October 3 to October 12, 2019. The ceremony took place on October 6, with 9 award categories including Best Creative, Best Asian Drama, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Writer, Best Rising Star, Newcomer, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Excellence Award. The Award recognizes contents from Korea, China, and Japan.
In 2023, the awards were rebranded to the Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards (; abbreviated ACA & G. OTT) through a partnership with the International OTT Festival, the Ministry of Science and ICT and Busan Metropolitan City. The 2023 edition took place on October 8, held in conjunction with the 28th Busan International Film Festival. It was followed by the 2024 edition on October 6, 2024.
The ceremony features 17 categories, following the addition of five new awards. The program is divided into 10 competitive categories and seven invitational honors, such as the Lifetime Achievement Award and Rising Star of the Year. To acknowledge the evolving industry landscape, the event also presents awards specifically to OTT service providers.
Ceremonies Year Date Venue City Host Asia Contents Awards (ACA) 2019 October 6, 2019 Sohyang Theater, Dongseo University Busan, South Korea Yoo Teo and 2020 October 25, 2020online Nichkhun and Kim Sae-yeon 2021 October 7, 2021 Mark Tetto and Kim Sae-yeon 2022 October 8, 2022 BIFF Theater, Busan Cinema Center Busan, South Korea Jung Hae-in and Kim Sae-yeon Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards (ACA & G.OTT Awards) 2023 October 8, 2023BIFF Theater, Busan Cinema CenterBusan, South Korea Kim Kang-woo and Nancy 2024 October 6, 2024 Kang Ki-young and Tiffany Young Global OTT Awards 2025 August 24, 2025 BIFF Theater, Busan Cinema Center Busan, South Korea Joo Jong-hyuk and Lee Hye-sung 2026 June 20, 2026 Ahn Jae-hyun and Kang So-ra
Awards category There are 19 award categories including 5 newly added awards in 2023 and 2 added in 2024. The Awards celebrates 11 awards in competition and 8 awards by invitation.
Open competition Best Creative: This award honours a content with notable achievement among the nominations. Best OTT Original: This award is for the outstanding OTT Original content among the nominations. Best Asian TV Series: An outstanding Asian TV series among the nominations gets this award. Best Reality and Variety: The outstanding reality and variety show among the nominations for the year is the recipient of this award. Best Director Best Writer Best Lead Actor & Actress Best Supporting Actor & Actress Best Newcomer Actor & Actress Best Visual Effects Best Original Song: Introduced from 2024, it features memorable tracks that have resonated with the audience.
Invitation Creative Beyond Border: This award is given to honor the content that has pioneered a new genre on OTT. New Technology: This award honors outstanding platform that utilize emerging ICT technology. Special Contribution for K-Content: To honour the platforms, networks, production houses, and artists who contribute to the proliferation of Korean content worldwide, this award is given. Special Contribution for OTT Industry: This award honors the OTT service providers and partners who have contributed to the development of OTT industry worldwide. Lifetime Achievement Award: This award is given to a TV station, media platform, production house, or a creative artist who has made notable contributions worldwide. ACA Excellence Award: A creative artist who makes notable contributions around the world is honoured with this award. Rising Star of the Year: The most notable artist among the nominations gets the rising star award. People’s Choice Award: Introduced in 2024, this award will allow fans to vote for their favorite actors. Best Short-form of the Year
Winners open competition Best Creative Year Winner Creator Country 2019 Mr. Sunshine Studio Dragon 2020 The World of the Married JTBC Studios The Bad Kids iQIYI 2021 Move to Heaven Netflix 2022 Extraordinary Attorney Woo ENA, Netflix 2023 Moving Disney+ 2024 Blossoms Shanghai Tencent Video 2025 When Life Gives You Tangerines Pan Entertainment 2026 You and Everything Else Kakao Entertainment
Best OTT Original Year Winner Creator Country 2021 iQIYI 2023 Weak Hero Class 1 Wavve 2024 Boyhood Coupang Play 2025 Nine Puzzles Kakao Entertainment 2026 The Price of Confession Studio Dragon
Best Asian TV Series Year Winner Creator Country 2023 Scoop Matchbox Shots, Netflix 2024 1286 Salem Social Media 2025 The Outlaw Doctor GrX Studio 2026 The Silent Noise ABS-CBN Studios
Best Reality and Variety Year Winner Creator Country 2023 Physical 100 Netflix Let's Feast Vietnam BHD Vietnam Media Corp 2024 2 Faces Workpoint Group Jinny's Kitchen 2 Egg is Coming 2025 World of Street Woman Fighter Mnet 2026 Badly in Love Staff Labbi
Best Asian Drama Year Winner Creator Country 2019 Faculty Mediacorp Hormones: The Series Season 3 GTH 2020 Last Madame Ochre Pictures When the Camellia Blooms Pan Entertainment 2021 Girl from Nowhere Season 2 GMM 25, Netflix Best Asian Animation 2021 Heaven's Design Team Asahi Production 2022 The Orbital Children Production +h Best Asian Documentary 2022 The Atom Araullo Specials: Young Arms ENA, GMA Network
Best Short-Form/Web Drama Year Winner Creator Country 2021 Sheker Salem Social Media
Best Lead Actress
Year Winner Work Country 2019 Yao Chen All Is Well Maja Salvador Wild Flower 2020 Kim Hee-ae The World of the Married Haru Kuroki Nagi's Long Vacation 2021 Song Jia A Love for Dilemma 2022 Park Eun-bin Extraordinary Attorney Woo 2023 Karishma Tanna Scoop 2024 Ariel Lin Imperfect Us 2025 Park Eun-bin Hyper Knife 2026 Shin Hye-sun The Art of Sarah
Best Lead Actor Year Winner Work Country 2019 Lei Jiayin The Longest Day in Chang'an Kim Nam-gil The Fiery Priest Takayuki Yamada The Naked Director 2020 Joseph Chang The Victims' Game Ju Ji-hoon Kingdom Season 2 2021 Lee Je-hoon Move to Heaven 2022 Ryohei Suzuki Tokyo MER: Mobile Emergency Room 2023 Ryu Seung-ryong Moving 2024 Hu Ge Blossoms Shanghai 2025 Kentaro Sakaguchi What Comes After Love , 2026 Tseng Jing-hua Had I Not Seen the Sun
Best Supporting Actress Year Winner Work Country 2022 Sora Ma This Land Is Mine 2023 Lim Ji-yeon The Glory 2024 Yeom Hye-ran Mask Girl 2025 Yeom Hye-ran When Life Gives You Tangerines 2026 Nana Climax
Best Supporting Actor Year Winner Work Country 2022 Park Hae-soo Squid Game 2023 Hsueh Shih-ling Taiwan Crime Stories 2024 Ahn Jae-hong Mask Girl 2025 Oh Jung-se Good Boy 2026 Jung Sung-il Made in Korea
Best Director Year Winner Work Country 2023 Xin Shuang The Long Season 2024 Kamila Andini Cigarette Girl Ifa Isfansyah 2025 Yao Xiaofeng Northward 2026 Li Xue Born to Be Alive
Best Writer Year Winner Work Country 2019 Park Hae-young My Mister Lu Shih-yuan The World Between Us 2020 Kim Eun-hee Kingdom Season 2 2021 Yoon Ji-ryeon Move to Heaven 2022 Wang Xiaoshuai The Pavilion Yang Yishu 2023 Kang Full Moving 2024 Joo Hwa-mi The Atypical Family 2025 Lim Sang-choon When Life Gives You Tangerines 2026 Kwon Jong-gwan The Price of Confession
Best Newcomer Actress
Year Winner Work Country . 2019 Sananthachat Thanapatpisal Hormones: The Series Kemisara Paladesh Sabrina Zhuang Mountains and Ocean Morita Misato The Naked Director 2020 Plearnpichaya Komalarajun One Year:The Series Jeon Mi-do Hospital Playlist 2021 Koe Yeet Titoudao Go Min-si Sweet Home 2022 Bao Shangen Love Behind the Melody 2023 Go Youn-jung Moving 2024 Nimura Sawa Shut Up 2025 Chung Su-bin Friendly Rivalry 2026 Aema Leah Dou Her
Best Newcomer Actor Year Winner Work Country . 2019 Jin Xiong Hao Mountains and Ocean 2020 Paris Intarakomalyasut In Family We Trust Rong Zishan The Bad Kids 2021 Win Morisaki The Real Thing 2022 Ryusei Yokohama The Journalist 2023 Lee Jung-ha Moving 2024 Chae Jong-hyeop Eye Love You Kim Yo-han A Killer Paradox 2025 Kang You-seok Resident Playbook 2026 Lee Ki-taek The Practical Guide to Love
Best Original Song
Year Winner songSeries Singer Country 2024 "Learn to Live Again" Imperfect Us Tanya Chua 2025 "Who Saw the Peacock Dance in the Jungle?" Who Saw the Peacock Dance in the Jungle? ADO 2026 "Love Language" Can This Love Be Translated? Kim Min-seok
Best Visual Effects Year Winner Creator Country 2020 Kingdom Season 2 AStory 2021 Sweet Home Studio Dragon, Studio N 2022 Squid Game Netflix 2023 Moving Disney+ 2024 Parasyte: The Grey Netflix 2025 I Am Nobody: The Showdown Between Yin & Yang Youku 2026 Agent from Above Netflix
Winners – invitation Rising Star of the Year
Year Winner Work Country Ref. 2019 Fang Rong Faculty 2020 Dilraba Dilmurat Eternal Love of Dream Kirti Kulhari Four More Shots Please! Sayani Gupta Maanvi Gagroo Gurbani Judge Ririn Dwi Ariyanti Dewi 2022 Kim Min-ha Pachinko Ling Man-lung 2023 Wen Junhui Exclusive Fairy Tale Buffy Chen Wave Makers 2024 Anson Kong Warriors Within 2 Ayaka Miyoshi Globe-Trotter Travel Guidebook Jo Yoon-su The Tyrant 2025 Shi Pengyuan A Life For A Life Lee Su-hyun Family Matters 2026 Becky Armstrong Girl from Nowhere: The Reset Dahyun Love Me Choi Mina Sue Single's Inferno Season 5
People's Choice Award (Male)
Year Winner Work Country 2024 Byeon Woo-seok Lovely Runner 2025 Bai Jingting The First Frost 2026 Song Weilong Shine on Me
People's Choice Award (Female) Year Winner Work Country 2024 Kim Hye-yoon Lovely Runner 2025 Bai Lu Northward 2026 Tian Xiwei Pursuit of Jade
Lifetime Achievement Award Year Winner Work Country 2019 Raymond Lee Wai-Man Flying Tiger 2020 Amuse Inc. Entertainment company ABS-CBN Commercial broadcast network 2022 Tatsuo Kawamura Producer 2023 Kim Jong-hak Director and producer
Excellence Award
Year Winner Work Country 2019 Kim Jae-joong Singer, songwriter, actor and director 2020 Kim Hye-soo Hyena Yuko Araki Actress and model 2021 Song Kang Sweet Home 2022 Fan Bingbing Actress 2023 Yuya Yagira Gannibal
Creative Beyond Border Year Winner Creator Country 2021 Bad Genius GDH 559 Alice in Borderland Netflix 2023 EXchange Season 2 TVING One Day Off Wavve 2024 Shaman: Whispers From The Dead TVING 2025 Life Line Independent 2026 Show Me the Money 12: Yaksha's World Mnet
New Technology Year Winner Work Country 2023 TVING OTT video streaming platform 2024 Kocowa OTT video streaming platform 2025 Binge korea OTT video streaming platform 2026 LG Channels OTT video streaming platform
Special Contribution for OTT Industry Year Winner Work Country 2023 Watcha OTT video streaming platform
Special Contribution for K-Content Year Winner Work Country 2023 Viu OTT video streaming platform Wavve Americas OTT video streaming platform
Best Creator Year Winner Work Country 2022 The Pinkfong Company Entertainment company
Achievement Award Year Winner Work Country 2022 Song Byung-joon Composer
ACA Jury's Special Award Year Winner Creator Country 2021 Naoki Hanzawa TBS
Best Short-form of the Year Year Winner Country 2026 Dreaming Busan
See also List of Asian television awards
References
External links