NBCUniversal has unveiled details of the latest new service to enter the battle for streaming dollars - it's called "Peacock," after the network's storied trademarked symbol. But unlike competitors, such as Disney+ and Netflix, it's being offered with a twist - some of its content will be free to anyone, provided they can put up with watching ads. A more premium offering will be commercial free.

Another innovation - you'll be able to watch The Tonight Show or Seth Meyers at least three hours before they air on regular broadcast TV. Those who want to pay for some soccer matches not seen on regular television will get that, too. You can also catch all the network's news shows on the platform. And since NBC has the rights to the Olympics this year, that can be streamed as well.   

You can see more of what it will have in this article, but there's no immediate word if it will ever be available to Canadians - and even if it is, it's uncertain what it might look like here. The Olympic rights will prevent that event from being offered to us. And the rights to shows like Law & Order and Cheers may have already been sold to other companies on this side of the border.

A few months ago, when this was first announced, I emailed a PR rep at NBC in New York to ask them if they hoped to include Canada in their plans for the new online network. The woman told me, yes, they'd like to - but it wouldn't be at launch and they didn't know exactly when it would come here. 

Given all the rights issues, I suspect that even if it does cross the border, it will be like CBS All Access, which has its biggest shows - The Good Fight, Picard, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone and more - already sold off to other networks here. So really, what would be the point of subscribing?

NBC Nightly News did a story on the service on Thursday night. You can see it here. 

I would be curious to know if anyone with a VPN will be able to watch the free version of the service in Canada. That we'll have to wait and see - or maybe not see, as the case may be.

NBC Press Release