Sick of Netflix? There are alternatives. Of course, we’ve talked about a few of the other streaming services out there. Now, Verizon wants to add its name to the list of options.

Verizon announced plans to launch its own Netflix-style service. Forget the discs, though. The new service would strictly stream movies and TV shows over the web. Sounds a lot like on-demand, right? Well, the real hook is that the company would launch the service into markets beyond the range of Verizon’s FiOS. That could open up the company’s services to an extra 85 million U.S. customers.

At this point, it’s hard to get too excited. Verizon has yet to announce pricing or available content. Reuters says that it could focus on packages with movies and children’s programming, and that programming could “be limited in its scope.”

“If this deal comes true it’s not clear to me what Verizon would bring to the table that is materially different to what others like Amazon offer,” Carlos Kirjner, an analyst at Bernstein Research, told Reuters.

It may not be all that different, but it could substantially grow Verizon’s current subscriber base. We shall see when the service is rolled out. Reuters says that could be as early as 2012.

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.