Winners announced for Venice TV Award 2025

The winners of the 2025 Venice TV Award, which sees the best of global television compete for the event’s coveted Gold Medals, have been revealed.

Held two weeks after the Venice Film Festival, the annual event honors international broadcasters and producers of all sizes across 19 categories, bringing to the iconic Italian city a select global jury of television experts. The awards also provide a snapshot of the industry’s current trends, with 2025 showing that public broadcasters remain dominant, Asia and Latin America continue to innovate, and Europe’s tradition of scripted programming is as strong as ever.

The BBC was 2025’s most awarded broadcaster, collecting three Gold Medals as well as the Special Jury Prize. The broadcaster’s wins came from Ludwig, which won in the Comedy category, Crongton (Children & Youth), The Man Who Definitely Didn’t Steal Hollywood (Documentary) and Atomic People (Documentary), which gave voice to survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and earned the programme the Special Jury Prize for its powerful testimonies and lasting impact. The results reinforce the BBC’s ongoing role as a global benchmark for quality programming, with strong performances in both scripted and factual content.

Broadcaster NHK Japan also left its mark on the awards, coming away with three Gold Medals, for Driving into the Storm (Television Film), Luka and the Flower of the Sun (Animation), and Deep Ocean: Kingdom of the Coelacanth (Cinematography). The trio of wins is testament to NHK’s unique blend of cultural storytelling and technical innovation.

Beyond NHK, other broadcasters from Asia put up a strong showing with the rising influence of South Korea’s K-Content recognised in the shape of CJ ENMs Gold Medal win for Couple Palace (Light Entertainment), as well as nominations for China, India and the Philippines

Latin America and Europe also secured prizes with Brazilian broadcaster Globo TV awarded a Gold Medal, for We Rise as We Fight (Titles, Branding & Promotion) and victories for TF1 France and SIC Portugal adding to Europe’s strong showing. YLE Finland also earned recognition in Direction for Queen of Fucking Everything, a bold and distinctive piece of Nordic creativity.

“What I valued most,” commented juror Allan Holland, BBC Studios’ Head of Specialist Factual Productions, “was the exchange between jurors from different backgrounds, reviewing work from so many continents and topics.”

Elsewhere, the Canadian drama Empathie won Gold in the TV Series category and was praised for its intimate portrayal of a psychiatrist whose own struggles mirror those of the patients he treats. The United States left with two Gold Medals, with CBS News winning in New Coverage, and NBC Peacock’s coverage of the Paris Olympic Games 2024 triumphing in the Cross Platform category.

The New Talent Award, which once again placed the spotlight on student filmmakers, saw Alexander Kuehn, a director from Germany’s Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, win for If I Could Fly. The annual New Talent Award confirms the event’s on-going commitment to nurturing the next generation of creative voices.

“I think this slate was the best ever,” said Bonolo Madisakwane, Content & Channel Distribution Manager at Paramount Africa, “and it was truly inspiring to experience.”

“In Venice, it was a great pleasure and an inspiring professional opportunity to work with such wonderfully kind jury members and to witness such remarkable creativity and storytelling,“ added Minnie Ferrara, Director of the Luchino Visconti Film School.