CSpace: Kerala Launches India’s First State-Run OTT Platform

On Thursday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched India”s first state-run over-the-top (OTT) platform. Named as Cspace, the new entrant into India’s vast OTT sphere mainly controlled by Disney Hotsrar, Netflix, SonyLiv, Amazon Prime and Zee5, will be operated by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC). The chief minister expressed his confidence that CSpace will emerge as an alternative within the OTT sector providing a shining example of the Kerala model.

”With great pride, launched “CSpace”, India”s first state-run over-the-top (OTT) platform today. Operated by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), CSpace will emerge as an alternative within the OTT sector, largely controlled by multinational corporations, providing a shining example of the Kerala model,” Mr Vijayan wrote on his X handle.

Earlier, chairman of the KSFDC, Shaji N Karun said the platform is essentially a response to the growing imbalances and multifarious challenges in the OTT sector in terms of content selection and propagation.

To curate the content for CSpace, KSFDC has constituted a panel of 60 members including eminent personalities from the state for selecting and approving the content. They include writer Benjamin, OV Usha, film directors Santhosh Sivan, Shyamaprasad, Jeo Baby and Sunny Joseph.

In its initial stage, CSpace will have a facility to ‘pay per use’ and a full length feature film will cost Rs 75. The officials said the charges will be arranged accordingly for shorter movies.