Percy Jackson and the Olympians will air on Disney+, and a little bit on Hulu

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a new TV show based on author Rick Riordan’s sereis of young adult fantasy books about a young boy who discovers he’s a Greek demigod, premieres soon on Disney+. The first two episodes drop on December 20.

The show will also be available on Hulu…but only a little. While Disney+ will get the first two episodes on December 20, Hulu will get the first. While episodes will continue to come out on Disney+ every week thereafter, Hulu won’t get any beyond the first. And while the episodes will stay on Disney+ for the foreseeable future, the first episode will disappear from Hulu on January 31 of next year.

This is an interesting play by Disney, which operates both Disney+ and Hulu. Obviously, they’re hoping that people who subscribe to Hulu but not Disney+ watch the first episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Hulu and are inspired to pay for a Disney+ subscription to watch the rest.

I get what Disney is doing, but it does beg the question: if Disney controls everything that goes on Disney+ and Hulu, why doesn’t it just make everything on one available on the other? Why do they even need two different streaming services at all?

And the obvious answer to that is that they don’t need two streaming services, but they’d like to have them because that means they’ll get more money from people who buy multiple subscriptions. That’s no secret, but I’m guessing that Disney would prefer not to draw much attention to it.

In any case, Percy Jackson and the Olympians premieres next Wednesday. Wherever you watch it, enjoy.

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