Kerala To Launch India’s First Government-owned OTT Platform

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will launch the OTT platform, CSpace, at the Kairali Theatre.

The launch of CSpace positions Kerala to make waves in the digital entertainment realm. CSpace is India’s first government-owned OTT platform. It will make its debut on Thursday, March 7. CSpace aims to deliver content that will provide entertainment and a blend of information to its users.

According to Hindustan Times, Shaji N. Karun, noted film director and Chairman of Kerala State Film Development Corporation,

CSpace is essentially a response to the growing imbalances and multifarious challenges in the OTT sector in terms of content selection and propagation.

Shaji N. Karun

KSFDC is in charge of managing CSpace, a state-owned organization charged with promoting Malayalam film and the industry on behalf of the Kerala government’s Department of Cultural Affairs. KSFDC established a curator panel of 60 individuals, including distinguished cultural figures from the state like Benyamin, OV Usha, Santhosh Sivan, Shyamaprasad, Sunny Joseph, and Jeo Baby, to choose and approve the content. Three curators from the panel will assess each piece of content submitted to the site based on its artistic, cultural, and entertainment value.

The curators will exclusively recommend the content displayed on the site. According to Karun, the curators have chosen 42 films total—35 feature films, 6 documentaries, and 1 short film—for the initial phase of CSpace. There will also be a selection of films that have played at important film festivals or won national or state honours.

The platform will operate on a pay-per-view basis, and will allow its users to watch a feature film for ₹75 and other content for a lesser price. Half of the amount charged goes to the content provider. Viewers can download the app from the Google Play Store on March 7.

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