Title: OTT platform accessibility: a glimpse from the Indian State of Kerala

Authors: Jins Varkey; Shelly Johny

Addresses: St. Aloysius College, Elthuruth, Thrissur, Kerala, India ' St. Aloysius College, Elthuruth, Thrissur, Kerala, India

Abstract: COVID-19 has made India a hotbed for OTT platforms. The majority of the viewers of the OTT platforms migrated to the medium during the pandemic. As an alternative to the conventional platforms of entertainment, OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar inter alia have become a daily reality in the Indian households, particularly in Kerala, during the pandemic period. Given the alternative possibility of these platforms to counter the 'entertainment pause' caused by the pandemic, the 'inadvertent' exclusion these platforms create is undeniable. In a poor country like India where digital divide is a reality, the hasty normalisation of OTT platforms made it inaccessible for many. By focusing on indicators like caste, class, gender and age and using sample survey, this study explores the digital divide and also attempts to find out the major determinants that influence the first level accessibility to OTT platforms.

Keywords: OTT platforms; digital divide; COVID-19; caste; class; gender.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2024.142592

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2024 Vol.33 No.3, pp.341 - 352

Received: 13 Mar 2023
Accepted: 05 Apr 2023
Published online: 11 Nov 2024 *

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