Over a year after its launch, the Kerala government’s over-the-top (OTT) platform ‘CSpace’ is yet to be counted among the sought-after OTT platforms in the State.
Till July 21, 2025, the platform which follows a pay-per-view model has netted close to 6,000 purchases and a total of 30,000 views, according to sources from the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), which runs CSpace.
A first-of-its-kind initiative by a State government, the platform was aimed at ensuring space as well as revenue share for low-budget, independent films. It has fulfilled this objective to an extent as quite a few such films are part of the offerings. Significant among them are the films produced by the State government under the initiative to promote filmmakers from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes category as well as women directors. Among the top 10 most viewed films are B 32 Muthal 44 Varedirected by Shruthi Sharanyam and Nishiddho directed by Tara Ramanujan.
But CSpace has not really hit the mark which the government aimed for when it launched the initiative in March 2024. Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian admitted as much during a media interaction last week in the capital to announce the Film Policy Conclave.
‘Needs to be better’
“The platform has to be better, but it’s only the beginning. We are competing with big giants. There are some difficulties which we should resolve. But, we don’t plan to turn back from this initiative. It will run well,” said Mr. Cherian.
The lack of popular commercial films has been one of the impediments to CSpace’s growth. The KSFDC does not have the permission to go for outright purchase of any film. Under the pay-per-view model that the platform works, the producers get a 50% share of the amount collected from viewers. Feature films as well as short films and documentaries above 40 minutes’ duration are available for viewing at ₹75, while short films less than 10 minutes duration are available for ₹10. A film once purchased will remain in the account for 30 days and for a week after one has started watching it. It can be viewed any number of times during this period.
Improving content library
According to KSFDC officials, there has been some internal stock taking on the performance of CSpace. Discussions are ongoing on the possibilities of improving the content library and including films from other languages. The State government has viewed the platform as a cultural intervention, rather than something prompted by the market or revenues, but without a few popular films also in the library, it will be a challenge to attract the attention of the masses.
Published – July 21, 2025 04:27 pm IST
