Asia’s Largest LGBTQ+ Streaming Platform, GagaOOLala Summit: Platform Unveils Global Data and Strategy, Mapping the Future of the $5.6 Trillion Pink Economy with New Cooperation Models
Taiwanese content forms a significant part of the GagaOOLala library, with fans in the US, Thailand, and Taiwan being the top viewers (Photo_ Courtesy of GagaOOLala)
Highlights from the event:
TAIPEI, TAIWAN – August 20, 2025 – GagaOOLala, the Asia’s largest LGBTQ+ streaming platform offering global services, yesterday hosted the “GOL SUMMIT: Global LGBTQ+, BL & GL Platform Data and Partnership Exchange” at the GIS NTU Convention Center in Taipei. The platform publicly released, for the first time, in-depth data on its rapid post-pandemic global membership growth and content trends, highlighting the potential of the "Pink Economy" within the streaming industry. The summit showcased three major commercial cooperation models, demonstrating the immense growth potential and cross-sector value of original Asian LGBTQ+ content in the global market.
GagaOOLala hosting the GOL SUMMIT_ Global LGBTQ+, BL, and GL Content Data and Collaboration Exchange, which revealed global viewing behavior insights and was attended by over 150 industry professionals (Photo_
The summit, offering a new B2B perspective "from content to data, and from trends to strategy," attracted over 150 professionals from the film and television industry, government culture departments, and media channels, including Director General Li Kelly of the Thailand Trade and Economic Office, directors Yi-Yu Chen and Ding Li, and producer Fei-Chiao Tsai. Jay Lin, Founder and CEO of GagaOOLala, stated: "We believe that LGBTQ+ narratives should not remain solely within the cultural sphere, but must enter the domain of mainstream industry decision-making, driven by data and strategy. The purpose of this event is to showcase the industrial value and cultural depth of Asian queer content to the world."
The second season of GagaOOLala’s original Girls’ Love (GL) series, Fragrance of the First Flower (featuring, from left_ Cindy Cheng and Lin Chen-Hsi) (Photo_ Courtesy of GagaOOLala)
Platform Insights: Membership Spanning 249 Territories, Revealing Audience Preference Trends
GagaOOLala shared its membership growth trends from 2024 to 2025, revealing a subscriber base accumulated from 249 countries and regions. The presentation included deep data analysis being released for the first time, covering viewing preferences in major markets, global member consumption habits, viewing platform preferences, and the worldwide distribution of Taiwanese content viewership.
Three successful cooperation models were highlighted for content partners:
Cross-Media Integration Model: Exemplified by the original drama Lesson in Perfect Love, which integrated Warner Music, Japan's Rakuten TV and VideoMarket, Thailand's STARHUNTER Entertainment, Pinkoi global e-commerce, and Chun Kuang Publishing to create simultaneous content and platform buzz.
High-Reputation Ecosystem Model: Illustrated by Fragrance of the First Flower, which built IP value through multiple touchpoints: winning three Golden Bell Awards, exhibiting at major festivals like Series Mania (France) and the Kaohsiung and Women’s Film Festivals, securing theatrical distribution in Korea, and fostering strong community loyalty.
Viral Communication Model: Combining self-media and KOL collaborations with strategic topic setting and social diffusion to rapidly drive subscriptions and exposure.
The second season of GagaOOLala’s original Girls’ Love (GL) series, Fragrance of the First Flower (featuring, from left_ Cindy Cheng and Lin Chen-Hsi) (Photo_ Courtesy of GagaOOLala)_2
Strategic Content Expansion: GagaOOLala Embraces Vertical/Micro-Series as Data-Driven R&D
Further demonstrating its commitment to data-driven content strategy, GagaOOLala is expanding its focus into vertical and micro-series. Founder and CEO Jay Lin notes that nine years into the platform’s journey, this agile format represents a "transformational" shift, fitting efficiently into the platform's original content initiatives like "Queer Up The Volume."
The platform has already acquired approximately 12 micro-dramas from Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan, with plans to launch a line-up of approximately 20 titles for initial testing. Lin explains the strategic rationale: "The vertical format is a good platform to test the interest for a story and the potential online/offline application that is a key component of what BL/GL is today. For a platform that is our size, these verticals are a lot more up our alley and in line with our budgets."
This push into micro-drama acquisition—which features significantly smaller fees than regular series—is a data-driven process designed to "test out and see if it drives subscription" and provide valuable data for future content investment decisions. The vertical series launch will coincide with the rollout of GagaOOLala’s digital wallet and sachet-pricing model in select territories before the end of this year.
GagaOOLala Founder and CEO Jay Lin sharing that the platform's paying members are split into three major blocs—Asia, US_Canada, and Europe_Other—showing Asian content is popular and Taiwanese productions form a
Global Queer Market Emerges: The Pink Economy Hits $5.6 Trillion Annual Value
Research by Credit Suisse and other institutions indicates the global LGBTQ+ community possesses over $5.6 trillion in consumption potential. If considered a single economy, it would rank as the world's fourth-largest GDP nation. GagaOOLala notes this cultural and economic transformation is rapidly accelerating within the Asian film and television industry.
Based on GagaOOLala’s observation of estimated data trends from MyDramaList, the total number of BL (Boys' Love) and GL (Girls' Love) content in Asia has grown significantly, increasing from 54 BL and 15 GL titles in 2015 to 229 BL and 113 GL titles in 2024. This represents a growth of over 400% for BL and an impressive 750% for GL content. BL and GL are now driving Thailand’s next export wave, recognized by the Thai government as a key focus area for soft power and the creative economy. The Siam Commercial Bank Economic Intelligence Center (SCB EIC) predicts that "Y Series" (BL dramas) will grow their share of Thailand’s entertainment media value from 0.7% in 2019 to 3.9% in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 17%, reaching a total market value of over 4.9 billion Thai Baht (approximately $126 million USD).
The success of Thai BL dramas is also contributing to the overall growth of Thailand’s entertainment media market, which is expected to expand at an annual rate of about 4.1%, reaching 12.6 billion Thai Baht by 2025. Japan is also seeing a sharp rise in production, mainly driven by TV stations and independent companies adapting popular BL manga. South Korea’s BL industry leverages its mature production infrastructure to create high-quality BL dramas. Taiwan, less reliant on manga or novel adaptations, often seeks stories from a more realistic perspective. This flourishing phenomenon is occurring across Asia.
GagaOOLala Founder and CEO Jay Lin sharing how digital tools, such as the Automated Journey, and international KOL marketing have helped drive membership growth for GagaOOLala (Photo_ Courtesy of GagaOOLala)
Paid Membership Structure: Asia, North America, Europe Form a Tripartite Balance
GagaOOLala CEO Jay Lin highlighted key metrics: "We currently have over 5 million members with 1.8 million monthly active users. Social media followers exceed 4.6 million, and App downloads have surpassed 3.8 million. Our average monthly traffic is over 20 million, and monthly social reach exceeds 220 million instances."
Regarding registered membership, the top five markets have remained consistent, with registration numbers trending toward balance in recent years. Since 2022, India has replaced Taiwan in the top five. In terms of paid membership, the US market shows dramatic, high-speed growth and remains dominant, followed by Thailand and Taiwan, with Germany ranking fourth. By 2025, the top 15 paid markets show a near tripartite balance of 1/3 Asia, 1/3 North America, and 1/3 Europe and other regions, with 46% of the audience being female viewers aged 18 to 24.
As of July 2025, viewing preferences in major European and American markets show an overwhelming concentration on Gay and BL content, with preferences for these genres exceeding 95%. Japanese and Thai dramas are the most consumed, with Japanese drama viewership increasing annually. Asian audiences also show a high preference for BL. Taiwanese viewers, however, show relatively balanced viewing preferences, with the proportion of WLW (Women Loving Women) content viewership being the highest among Asian countries.
Taiwanese content remains a vital component of the GagaOOLala library. The platform features over 240 Taiwanese titles, with a balanced type distribution including Gay, WLW, Queer, and BL content. Notably, 40% are short films, and Taiwan is a significant producer of Gay and WLW short films in Asia. Furthermore, GagaOOLala's self-produced Taiwanese LGBTQ+, WLW, and BL content contributes approximately 21% of all Taiwanese works on the platform. The top three global audiences for Taiwanese content are: the US (29%), Taiwan (16%), and Thailand (11%), with minimal difference among other countries. Japan and Korea are often not on the list due to regional licensing restrictions.
The venue for GagaOOLala's inaugural GOL SUMMIT_ Global LGBTQ+, BL, and GL Content Data and Collaboration Exchange was filled to capacity (Photo_ Courtesy of GagaOOLala)
Digital Automation and KOL Marketing Drive Explosive Growth
Since the introduction of automated journey digital tools in August 2024, the platform has seen remarkable results:
Users reaching the goal of becoming general members after registration completion grew by 179%.
Users upgrading from general members to paid VIP members using promotional codes increased by 52%.
User retention (meeting the viewing goal through content recommendations) grew by 137% due to automated journeys.
These features boosted July’s "Summer BL Season" registration by 152% compared to the previous campaign, and the June "Pride Month" activity saw registration growth of over 100%.
GagaOOLala's overall social media growth surged between January and July 2025, accumulating 230 million social reach and 23 million interactions, with significant acceleration in June and July. July alone saw 67 million social reach (a 3x increase) and 8.7 million interactions (a 5x increase). This growth was driven by a continuous stream of BL series releases starting in May, followed by "Pride Month" in June, and the "Summer BL Season" in July, consistently generating international social buzz. Another key growth engine is "Global KOL Marketing." By platform, Instagram accounted for 50% of the social reach, followed by TikTok at 40%. However, TikTok leads in interaction volume, with Instagram second, indicating these two platforms have the highest KOL activity.
Concluding the event, CEO Jay Lin summarized: "The Pink Economy is not niche; it is the new mainstream for the future entertainment industry. GagaOOLala is more than a viewing platform; it is an engine for film and television cooperation, connecting creation, distribution, and international festivals. LGBTQ+, BL, and GL content is experiencing the highest growth rates in the media content sphere and holds immense global export potential, much like the prior K-Wave and Anime phenomena. Taiwan possesses strong government support, advanced infrastructure, an open and diverse creative environment, and tight global connections. We are looking forward to leveraging internal resources and collaborating with diverse partners to further the success of this content genre."
The event aligns with Taiwan's cultural content export policy, aiming to utilize data and successful IP as a foundation to promote greater international co-production and original content development, successfully providing a commercial exchange opportunity.