Walt Disney has already started merging Hulu content into Disney+, but with the upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians, it appears the crossover is going both ways.
Hulu said on Wednesday that the premiere episode of the show, based on the popular series of young adult books from Rick Riordan, would air concurrently on Disney+ and Hulu on December 20. By also airing the first episode on Hulu, it’s offering a tease and potential bait to get those users to sign up for Disney+.
You’re seeing the impact of Disney taking full control of Hulu after buying out Comcast’s stake in the streaming service (with the final payment to come in 2024). Hulu has been integrated into Disney+ in a beta trial, but that will be expanded into an official launch in March. Both, however, will also remain available as standalone services.
The hope is that the combined library of movies and shows — which could topple Netflix in their popularity — will accelerate growth and get subscribers excited about Disney+ again.
The shift is happening as the other streaming services start to license out their content, partner with other companies for distribution, and push more advertisement as the whole industry redirects its focus on stemming the massive losses that many of these services still incur.
Image credit: Disney+