 | |
Type of site | Private [1] |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Wood Green, London [1] |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| CEO | Navid Akhtar [2] |
| Key people | David Horne (CFO) [2] |
| URL | alchemiya.com |
| Registration | Required |
Alchemiya is a streaming service geared towards Muslim audiences. [3] Based out of the United Kingdom, it offers content mainly in English: feature films, short films, documentaries along with its own produced content. Alchemiya has been dubbed the "Muslim Netflix". [4]
Alchemiya was founded in 2015 by Navid Akhtar and Ajmal Masroor. Akhtar had previously worked for 20 years in the UK broadcasting industry, including for the BBC and Channel 4. [2] Masroor is a London-based imam, [5] who currently serves as the company's communication officer. [2]
The founders of Alchemiya were motivated by a desire to counter negative perceptions of Muslims. One complaint was that Netflix productions often depicted Muslims as terrorists. [6] Instead, Alchemiya intends to showcase the lifestyle and diversity of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims and the positive contributions of Islam. [6] The initiative was praised by Ibrahim Hooper and Hamza Yusuf. [2]
In 2015, it started a funding campaign on Crowdcube, a British crowdfunding website. [7] It offered only 2 per cent of equity, keeping 98% per cent for the founders, and non-voting stock. Alchemiya managed to obtain 72 investors and raise 81 per cent of their goal. [7]
Alchemiya aims to capture the Muslim entertainment market. According to The Global State of the Economy Report 2017/18 from Thomson Reuters, Muslims spent $198 billion on entertainment in 2016, a figure that is forecasted to reach $281 billion by 2022. [3]
Alchemiya has gone through three investment rounds; the first two garnered generated $282,000 in investment. [3]
Alchemiya offers video on demand service to 90 million mobile phone users via carriers. [3] Carriers include Axiata, which delivers its content in Indonesia, Bangladesh and Malaysia, and Pakistan Telecommunication. [3] Alchemiya videos are also available via Amazon Prime. [3]
The company has also launched an online journal, The Alchemist's Notebook, which produces articles that contextualize its content. Examples include articles on the Pakistani film industry or the Turkish drama sector. [8]
Alchemiya features a variety of content, mostly in English. [9] Offerings include feature films from the Middle East, short films and documentaries. [4] It also features lifestyle content, including shows on cooking and arts, and travelers guides. [3] In addition, some films shown are banned in their countries of origin; one example is a documentary on the Bangladesh Liberation War. [10]
Alchemiya also produces its own content; one of its popular productions was the documentary I Heart Quran. [11]
As of March 2021, the website currently had 650–700 pieces of content, with short-term plans of acquiring another 2,000 pieces. [9]
Alchemiya has subscribers in at least 40 countries, [11] but most are in the United States and the United Kingdom. [9] A 2016 survey indicated that about 10% of its subscribers were non-Muslim. [11] [9] Alchemiya finds its audience through social media advertising. [8]
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of over-the-air programming was the most common form of media distribution. As Internet and IPTV technologies continued to develop in the 1990s, consumers began to gravitate towards non-traditional modes of content consumption, which culminated in the arrival of VOD on televisions and personal computers.
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple languages.
Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent network Home Box Office (HBO) and initially focusing on recent and classic films upon its launch on August 1, 1980. Programming featured on Cinemax currently consists primarily of recent and older theatrically released motion pictures, and original action series, as well as documentaries and special behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as television shows and films, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable television, and/or satellite television systems.
Hulu is an American subscription streaming media owned by The Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007.
Prime Video, or AmazonPrime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced by Amazon MGM Studios or licensed to Amazon, as Amazon Originals, with the service also hosting content from other providers, content add-ons, live sporting events, and video rental and purchasing services.
FX Networks, LLC, is a company consisting of a network of cable channels plus a production company and a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment business division of The Walt Disney Company. Originally a part of 21st Century Fox, the company was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on March 20, 2019. Consequently, FX Networks was integrated into the newly renamed Walt Disney Television unit.
Vimeo, Inc. is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as a service (SaaS). They derive revenue by providing subscription plans for businesses and content creators. Vimeo provides its subscribers with tools for video creation, editing, and broadcasting, enterprise software solutions, as well as the means for video professionals to connect with clients and other professionals. As of December 2021, the site has 260 million users, with around 1.6 million subscribers to its services.
Crave is a Canadian subscription video on demand service owned by Bell Media. The service competes directly with other subscription-based over-the-top streaming services operating in Canada, primarily against American-based services.
iQIYI, formerly Qiyi (奇艺), is a Chinese subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Baidu. Headquartered in Beijing, iQIYI primarily produces and distributes films and television series.
Disney+ Hotstar is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Disney Star, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment business segment of The Walt Disney Company, featuring domestic Indian film, television and sports content for India itself and its worldwide diaspora. It also includes imported content from and serves Southeast Asia as well.
Curiosity Stream, formerly branded as CuriosityStream, is an American media company and subscription video streaming service that offers documentary programming including films, series, and TV shows. The company offers a video-on-demand subscription service branded as "Curiosity Stream" and a linear broadcast television channel known as the Curiosity Channel through various services such as FuboTV and The Roku Channel.
Netflix is a video on demand service which began expanding its business starting in 2010. The platform started in the United States and expanded for the first time in 2010, to Canada. This marked the beginning of a long expansion process. By 2015, Netflix was operating in 50 countries. Today, Netflix is in over 190 countries, and has drastically increased their rate of expansion in the last five years. As of 2020, there were 203.67 million people paying for a Netflix subscription. Of those people, over 73 million are located in the United States.
VidAngel is an American streaming video company that allows the user to skip objectionable content based on user preferences regarding profanity, nudity, sexual situations, and graphic violence. The company uses customizable filters to automatically cut out scenes or sounds which the viewer does not want to see or hear. The company was launched in 2014 by the Harmon Brothers in Utah. The company used equity crowdfunding to fund its growth, raising $10 million from customer-investors.
ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by the ESPN division of the Walt Disney Company, in partnership with ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications. It is one of Disney's three flagship subscription streaming brands in the United States, alongside Disney+ and Hulu, and operates using technology of Disney subsidiary BAMTech, now known as Disney Streaming and MT Digital.
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming media service owned and operated by Disney Streaming, the streaming division of Disney Entertainment, a major business segment of the Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television shows produced by Walt Disney Studios and Disney Television Studios, with dedicated content hubs for Disney's flagship brands; Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and Hulu as well as showcasing original and exclusive films and television shows.
Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced during the Apple Special Event of March 2019, where entertainers from Apple TV+ projects appeared onstage, including Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, and Steven Spielberg.
Binge is a video streaming subscription service available in Australia, owned by Streamotion. The service offers on demand and live entertainment, lifestyle, reality and movie programming.
JioCinema is an Indian over-the-top media streaming service owned by Viacom18, a joint venture of Reliance Industries and Paramount Global. It offers free advertising- and subscription-based video on demand and live streaming content.