A year after its launch, the Kerala government’s over-the-top (OTT) platform ‘CSPACE’ is yet to be counted among the OTT platforms demanded in the state.
According to sources in the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), till July 21, 2025, a platform following a pay-per-view model is close to 6,000 purchases and a total of 30,000 views, which runs the CSPACE.
A state government was to ensure the first-time initiative, the purpose of the forum, as well as to ensure the revenue share for low budget, independent films. This has fulfilled this purpose to an extent as some such films are part of Prasad. Among them are important films that are under the initiative of the state government to promote filmmakers from women directors along with the category of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Out of top 10 most watched films B 32 Muthal 44 VareDirected by Shruti Sharanyam and Nishido Directed by Tara Ramanujan.
But CSPACE has not really hit the mark that the government launched in March 2024. Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian accepted the same during a media conversation in the capital to announce the film policy competition last week.
‘Need to be better’
“The stage has to be better, but this is only the beginning. We are competing with big veterans. There are some difficulties that we should solve. But, we do not plan to turn back from this initiative. It will go well.”
Lack of popular commercial films has been one of the obstacles for the development of CSPACE. KSFDC is not allowed to go for a lump sum purchase of any film. The platform that works under the pay-per-view model receives 50% of the amount collected from the audience. The duration of more than the 40 -minute period of short films and documentaries along with feature films is available to be seen at 75, while the duration of less than 10 minutes is available for ₹ 10. A film once purchased will remain in the account for 30 days and has started watching it one after a week. It can be seen in any number during this period.
Material library improvement
According to KSFDC officials, some internal stocks have been taken on the performance of CSPACE. The possibilities of improving the content library and including films from other languages are being discussed. The state government has seen the forum as a cultural intervention, rather than the market or the thing indicated by the revenue, but without some popular films in the library, it will be a challenge to draw public attention.
Published – July 21, 2025 04:27 pm IST