The original model for the DVDs-on-Demand business involved kiosks where customers could obtain their favorite movies for a fee.  That may eventually happen on a large scale, but the current interest in DVDs-on-Demand centers on major companies providing access to their niche properties via online outlets.  For example, Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group has just announced the creation of the Warner Archive Collection, which will offer movies that are not deemed desirable enough to rate a full DVD release, to consumers who can purchase a DVD ($19.95 plus shipping) or a digital download ($14.95).

Warner Bros. has an immense library of over 5,000 titles that includes pre-1986 films produced by MGM, RKO, and Warners.  Initially the Warner Archive Collection will have 150 films available including Academy Award-nominated films such as Sunrise at Campobello, The Citadel and Mr. Lucky, as well as genre titles such as Doc Savage, Beast of the City, and Captain Sinbad.  Every month 20 new movies will be added to the list of available titles.  The Warner Archive Collection titles will benefit from a state-of-the-art manufacturing on demand system, which can create a made-to-order DVD indistinguishable from a standard pressed DVD.  The Archive Collection DVDs will come shrink-wrapped in a hard plastic case featuring custom art and should reach customers within five days.

Movie fans won’t be the only beneficiary of made-to-order DVD access to properties that are not popular enough to sustain regular DVD distribution.  After diminishing sales returns from three seasons of the 1980s TV series Charles in Charge, Virgil Films is making Season 4 ($29.95) available exclusively through online retailer Amazon in the non-professional DVD-R format that can be duplicated quickly to meet consumer demand.